To a Lesser Extent
by SilverWings211
Summary: There are the jinchuriki, and then there are those who contain the powers of lesser demons; Hazuki is one of the latter and she has to find her own path to confront her dark past. OC CENTRIC
1. At Night

Attention: I am resubmitting my story from the beginning. I felt as though I wasnt going into enough detail with my OC, so that is my reason for this revamping exercise.

I apologise, but this means deleting all previously-existing chapters and beginning from the start. It's the same story -just longer.

Review, please -but no flames are tolerated.

BTW, I don't own Naruto or anything associated with it. None of the characters (save for the OCs) are mine. I would have thought that was obvious, since this is a fanfic

**Prologue –At Night**

The Hidden Tooth Root Village

The sun was setting. Soon the moon would rise into the sky with the onset of night. And the darkness of the night was something to be feared if you dwelt in the Hidden Village veiled in the mountains of the Land of Fangs, hidden to all and secret to those from outside the daimyo's palace.

The village was wedged in the bottom of a deep ravine, located at the centre of a multitude of steep cliffs and towering peaks, the buildings organised around a naturally formed freshwater lake that served the purpose of a natural reservoir. It was young –it had been standing for less than three years. The shinobi here were still getting used to fact that they didn't have to cower away and travel anymore –that this village, this land was their new home.

And at night, the village may well have been a ghost town. Women and their children, as well as those too old to fight, crowded into the safety of a cavern carved out of the side of one of the mountains. It was supposed to have been a hiding place should the village ever be attacked by an enemy force. Only one building still had lights burning –the home of the Patriarch of the Shensi clan. A man stood at the window of the room from which he worked during the day. His long auburn hair was tied back into a strict ponytail, and he was dressed in battle-garb that generation after generation had worn –plated and reinforced chest armour with arm guards over a form-fitting suit, tabi boots, and a cloak that swept around his shoulders, the bottom half emblazoned with the swirls of the sea.

A tear crept free from his green eyes as he held a babe wrapped in warm blankets to his chest. To think his daughter might live to see the last days of the village. The attacks on the village had been the work of a demon, a mass of black wings and terrible noise, with a savage hunger and a taste for human flesh. He had no idea where the beast had spawned from. And the shinobi who could fight it were dwindling down night by night. If it kept up like this, they would be forced to abandon their home and return to being wandering nomads.

The daimyo had permitted them one more night –just one more night –to deal with the beast. After that, he would call in for the aid of one of the five Great Shinobi Nations. That would spell the doom of their Hidden Village –their funding would be pulled and they would no longer have the status and independence of a Shinobi Hidden village.

There was only one choice –just one. He held the bundle tighter –his infant child slept on, unaware of the world and the dangers lurking in the shadows.

"Tsukimi –please, forgive me," he whispered, shedding a tear for his fallen and beloved wife. It wasn't fair –little Hazuki had already lost one parent, the night after she had been born. "Hazuki –you're going to need to be strong."

There was so much she would need to learn, so much she would have to learn to cope with. He was dooming her to a dangerous life –the least he could do was make sure that it wasn't painful or lonely. She would be a hero, after all –the child who saved the village.

There was a knock on the door, and he slipped the envelope onto the desk for his advisors to find when they were clearing out the office for the next occupant. He turned to face the door as it opened to reveal a shinobi. The man was in his late thirties, his black hair short and orderly, his onyx eyes underlined with red and wrinkles.

"Our forces are prepared for nightfall, Lord Shensi," Tsurugi said, bowing forward slightly to his brother-in-law.

"Thank you, brother," Ichiro replied, laying a hand on the warrior's shoulder. He was still grieving his sister, the pain so raw and fresh. "Return to your men; the Shadow Beast will be here soon. Be assured, I will be on the front lines soon."

Tsurugi inclined his head, heading back to his station, determination in his eyes and mind. Tsukimi had loved this village –loved the land, the people, her husband, her infant daughter. She had given her life for the dream that Hanonekagure should exist for more than one more generation.

'_Take care of little Hazuki,' _his twin sister had said, gasping out the words as she lay at Death's door, the words coming in short painful gasps. That beast –that shape-shifting darkness-loving demon that seemed to thrive on chaos and could disperse as though they were smoke –had murdered her.

Ichiro looked out of the window again as his brother-in-law left. There was no other choice –the village was doomed any other way. This village was the pride of his father, the source of his own pride. He would defend it –even if it cost him his life; even if it altered Hazuki's fate.

The sun was almost gone –it was time to begin preparations for the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Two Gates Sealing jutsu.

Hideyoshi, for all his age and white hair, was still an agile old monkey. He hopped from rock to rock, searching. The demon was gone, suddenly being dragged into something with a blood-freezing scream, and there was only one thing that could have stopped the demon –a sealing.

That was what had Hideyoshi concerned –a Sealing Technique powerful enough to imprison a beast that powerful came at a heavy price. And that price was the caster's life. There had to be another, a host in which to bind the demon. The caster had to be his son –but who was the host?

He landed on the top of a ledge about halfway up to the peak, overlooking the battle-scarred Hanonekagure. Heavy panting drew his eye, and his breath caught. He found the man he had been looking for, leaning against a boulder near the back of the ledge, his days-old child in his arms. He was still breathing, but looked at death's door himself. As he moved forward, he was the cuts and lacerations all over his son's body.

As he got nearer, Hazuki began to shiver and began to bawl loudly. That drew his attention from his half-dead son and he saw that the word for 'seal' had been etched with chakra onto her stomach, just above where the umbilical cord had been, and around it were two Four Symbols Seal markings, with a gap between the two in order to allow any escaped chakra to be suppressed and converted into Hazuki's own, the gaps marked by four feng-sui signs. It was the mark of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Two Gates Sealing technique, a jutsu that sealed a powerful demon into a human form. The power of the demon resided in Hazuki, their fates intertwined. When Hazuki died, the beast within her would die as well.

Hideyoshi scoped up his grandchild, pressing her against him so that she could feel the warmth, wrapping her in a blanket that had been put beside the ceremonial throne where she had been placed by her father. His worst fears had been confirmed –his eldest son was almost dead, and his granddaughter had been branded with a heavy burden.

"Father," he heard Ichiro whisper, and looked down, kneeling and allowing his son to grip his shoulders. "I love this village, Father –I couldn't see it fall. There is just one thing I want –Hazuki must be treated as a hero. It is only because of her that this village is still standing. She is the sole reason we have a tomorrow here."

Those happened to be his final words before his eyes flickered shut, his head rolled, his hand dropped, and his breath stopped. Hideyoshi stayed by his eldest son's body, crying as Hazuki whimpered slightly in his arms. He stayed like that until his tears transformed into silent hiccups of agony. He looked up as something changed; looking ahead of him, he saw that the rocks were illuminated golden. Through teary eyes, he saw that the sun was starting to rise; one of the rays of light struck across the little girl's face –the hope of the village's future now that they had survived the night.

"Grandfather!" he heard from behind him, and turned to see the son of his now-departed son, Takajin, heading towards him. The twelve-year-old Genin faltered upon seeing his father's body, the ceremonial throne and his infant sister who was just starting to drift to sleep. "Grandfather, what happened here?"

"Send word to the daimyo –the beast has been defeated," Hideyoshi said, adjusting the girl in his arms and turning to face Takejin. "And spread the word among our people –the village stands because of one little girl. We have a bright future ahead of all of us."


	2. Abduction

AN/ I am going through this at a pace so that you can get an idea of where this new version is headed. On that note, i would really like to hear your opinions, and i apologise to my followers for suddenly removing all my material.

Anyway, keep reviewing.

Now, i dont own Naruto or its characters (only my OCs); so now that the disclaimer's done, on with the story

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><p>The caves set deep into the side of the mountain were generally deserted, but a group of children had decided to turn the sanctity of the mountains into a playground, removed from the eyes of parents and safely far away from the reservoir. It was their own little hideaway –apart from the fact that every adult in the village knew where to find them.<p>

The Jonin settled into the bushes a little way up the path, peering through to watch the children playing in the area of the cave where the sunlight was strongest. They were playing kemari, kicking the ball between them.

His gaze fixed on the girl with her back to the entrance as she kicked the ball, tapping it between her feet before passing it on. Her long flowing dark-red hair was tied back into a ponytail that flowed to mid-way down her back. She was wearing a plain white cotton tunic and trousers that were three-quarters long, leaving her lower legs free of fabric. She wore black sandals, and had a white cloak that flowed around her shoulders.

His fist clenched at his side; he wasn't able to see it from here, even if she had been facing him, but her eyes were the same as his late sister's –deep onyx. His own eyes narrowed –he hated that. He despised the fact that every time he looked at the four-year-old girl, he saw his sister –and that her existence was an insult to the sacrifice of his sister. Tsurugi hated her –she was an insult. His nephew –the sixteen-year-old Takejin who would one day become Village Patriarch –wanted everyone to believe that Hazuki was a hero –but all she was, all she would ever be, was a monster. And to make matters worse for him, everyone else in Hanonekagure –including the members of his own clan –had bought the now-dead Ichiro's words; Hazuki was a pampered child, loved by the entire village, already being taught the basics of what it meant to be a shinobi, living with the expectations of being the grand-child of the Patriarch –without knowing that she was nothing but a beast.

A collective awe pulled his attention back, and he saw the ball rolling out of the mouth of the cavern, tittering before it began to roll towards him.

"Awe, Akiko, you're so clumsy," one of the boys said from inside. He was a couple of years older than the majority of the group.

"I'm sorry," a soft shy feminine voice said.

"I'll get it!" he heard Hazuki shout, and saw her emerge from the entrance as the ball was nearly at the shrubs where he crouched hidden. It was pointless to remain hiding, so he straightened, scooping up the ball from where it had been rolling and came forward.

"So this is where you troublemakers have been," he said, placing a fake smile on his face as he made his way forward with the ball, spinning it on his index finger.

"Uncle Tsurugi!" Hazuki shouted, running up to him, throwing her arms around his waist. He fought down the desire to throw her off, to curse her –not yet. He must remain in the trust of the Shensi a little while longer. "Why are you here?"

"There's a banquet tonight to welcome our guests," he said. Hanonekagure had been making a treaty with the Land of Lightning to compensate for the lack of their military strength: by latching onto the aid of one of the Great Shinobi Nations, they hoped to learn ways to improve the education of their young until they were ready to compete as an equal to the other shinobi nations.

But Hideyoshi –for all his charisma, experience and negotiating prowess –had no idea what had really spurred the Raikage to make a treaty with such a pitifully weak village of such a small nation that had practically no means of defence or anything of value, so removed from them. He had no idea of the secret deal his son-in-law had made with the Raikage.

Tsurugi had been planning this revenge for years. He held out his hand, and Hazuki took it. He had her trust –a trust that he planned to betray. The girl holding his hand, walking contentedly at his side, was going to be a powerful kunoichi –but she could also be the ultimate tool, a weapon of destruction.

It was late at night; Hazuki had been taken to get ready for bed. Tsurugi entered quietly, and was surprised to find that she was still awake rather than curled up in bed like a contented cat. She was standing at a table in the middle of the room, a portrait in her hands.

Tsurugi knew instantly what photo it was –the only portrait that showed all of her family –including the parents she had never known. Her mother, with her straight black hair and oynx eyes, and her father, with the same red hue Hazuki had inherited, stood in the very centre, their day-old child in their arms. It had been taken in the calm of that day, before she had lost first her mother and then her father.

"What are you doing up so late?" he asked. He had been expecting her to be asleep.

"I just wish… I had more of Mama and Papa than a photo," she said, and Tsurugi hesitated for the first time in his life. She seemed so… lonely, all of a sudden. "I've seen the other's with their parents. I don't understand… why did they leave me?"

Tsurugi's resolve hardened –she was an ignorant and selfish child, completely self-centred. He blinked, and his gaze hardened. Hideyoshi had decreed that none should tell Hazuki the truth –about her parents' deaths or the thing sealed inside her –until she was ten years of age. But he no longer cared for maintaining his ties to the wretched village that hadn't properly mourned his sister.

"It was not their choice, or their design," he said. "Your mother died fighting a powerful demon –your father died upon sealing it into you. The monster that attacked the village, that murdered your mother and so many others, has taken over your body! You are the demon that killed hundreds here!"

The framed portrait clattered to the ground, the glass smashing. Hazuki looked terrified, shocked. She backed away, wide-eyed –seeing him as he really was for the first time. But he couldn't care that he had revealed his dark side to her –it didn't matter anymore.

He focused his chakra, making the tiger hand seal. An illusionary rain of white feathers appeared before Hazuki. She fought to keep her eyes open, but it was pointless –she had no control over her chakra, no way to fight over the hypnotic spell. She was pulled into slumber, and he scooped her into his arms.

He pulled her cloak over his shoulders to keep her warm –although she wouldn't awake until the genjutsu on her was released. And by then, she would be in the Hidden Cloud Village. He opened the window to her bedroom, feeling the cool breeze blowing in across the calm surface of the lake –and then he leapt from the window, heading for the rendezvous point.

Two Kumo ninja were on the other side of the pass that connected Hanonekagure to the outside world, waiting for him –they were not part of the main party. The moon had risen into the sky, a full orb in the sky. It would be daybreak when any ninja from Hakowareta found out that the child and he were missing. There would be no proof that Kumo had played any part in the brat's abduction. They would assume that it was merely him and he had gone rogue –although he assumed that they would figure out why he had taken her.

"So you have the brat?" one of the ninja asked. He –as well as his colleague –was wearing the standard Jonin attire of the Cloud ninja: navy blue pants and a shirt over a dark grey vest, the headband of the Hidden Cloud around his forehead. "Was there any trouble?"

"Of course not," Tsurugi said –he was the caretaker of Hazuki; Hideyoshi gave him absolute confidence to attend to her at all times. And he hadn't employed any other ninja to that station. "Let's not tempt fate by waiting around here."

The ninja shared glances, and then took off, taking to the trees as they hurried away, leaving no sign of their passage.

It took them three days to pass into the Land of Lightning, and then a further day to draw near to the Hidden Cloud Village. The early part of the journey had been tense –they had been alert for any sign of pursuit from behind. They had kept up a rapid pace on the way through the lands, even when they had figured that they weren't being pursued.

The moment they rounded the last bend on the mountain pass, entering the limits of the village. The moment they were in the village, they were summoned to the office of the Raikage, located in the large blue structure that had been built from the tallest peak of the mountain where the village stood.

The Fourth Raikage was a tall muscular build, with blond hair, moustache and beard that contrasted sharply with his dark skin. He was wearing his Kage haori and hat as he sat in the office, although he wore no shirt underneath. He commanded respect rather than requesting it. His eyes fell on the girl Tsurugi was holding, having carried her all this way. "This is the so-called weapon of Hanonekagure?"

"Yes, Lord Raikage," Tsurugi said, stepping forward. "She carries the kekkai genkai of the Shensi, and has a demon within her."

"Lord Raikage, does the village suspect anything?" the Jonin in charge of the escort mission asked. "There was no pursuit."

"And there wouldn't have been," the Raikage said. He pushed two pieces of paper across the table –one of the child and one of Tsurugi. The word WANTED was printed across the bottom of Tsurugi's, with a hefty sum. He was a rogue to his home-nation now, a criminal. "They have no suspicion that we are involved –in fact, they are begging for our help to find a rogue and a child. You have done well. How is the child?" he asked the third ninja of the party. The bespectacled ninja who was from the Medical Corps pushed his glasses further up his nose.

"Healthy in every way," he said. "Despite the amount of time she has been trapped in a genjutsu, I am sure that she will be fully conscious within a few hours."

"Good," the Raikage said. "What about her chakra capacity? What can we expect?"

"She already possesses chakra –enough that I have little doubt that she can perform the most basic of ninjutsu skills. The sealing of the demon within her will probably have caused an increase in her reserves in order to allow her to contain the beast –exactly the same as with a jinchuriki. However, I am sure that over time, her growth and potential will dwarf that of other children if measured on an absolute scale, but the power of the demon is less than that of one of the Tailed Beasts. It ties in with what Tsurugi has told us –she was already beginning her ninja training."

"Excellent –that means we don't have to waste time lying down the foundations," the Raikage said. "Tsurugi –you have done well. I appoint you as the new Head Ninja of our Cloud Village –our old one died in an unfortunate twist of fate in the Leaf Village last year." He threw a Cloud forehead protector across to the man, who deftly caught it.

There was a knock at the door. At a word from the Raikage, it opened and a woman stepped into the room. She looked young, barely past her teens, with long straight blonde hair that was tied back in taut bandages. She was dressed in a short-sleeved purple blouse, black pants that had a design similar to clouds on them, and purple fingerless gloves. The standard forehead protector was secured around her forehead, with a kunai holster strapped to her right thigh. She had woven bandages around her forearms and lower legs, and had a red belt tied around her waist.

"Yugito –I have a task for you," the Raikage said, pointing to the unconscious girl. "Until further notice, raise this child. Make sure that she understands her place –she is here as a tool for the designs of this village."

"Yes, Lord Raikage," she said, bowing and stepping forward to claim the child. As she adjusted the child into her arms, noticing that she was under the influence of a powerful genjutsu, she noticed the look in the eyes of the man who had been holding her before. It was as though he was looking at something disgusting that had gotten on the sole of his sandals.

That look –it was like the looks that she had been subjected to since childhood. Within a moment, she realised –this girl may not be a jinchuriki, but she carried something powerful within her. And those who were hosts were always going to be feared.

She carried the child through the streets, stepping over the threshold of her home. It had been planned –she had been informed of the child's arrival and been put in charge of her wellbeing. The room that she stepped into was bare, with just a simple bed by a window –and nothing else. She covered the child up with blankets on the bed before reaching to the girl's forehead.

"Release," she said, dispelling the genjutsu. The girl moved slightly, but her eyes remained closed as she moved into a natural sleep after so long.

"Sleep well, little one," she said softly, reaching out and scraping a loose strand of hair from across her face. The child was going to need it –tomorrow, her training would begin.


	3. A Tool for Combat

AN/ I don't own Naruto, etc. Only the OCs are my own creation, and I'm trying to keep others in-character.

As you may noticed, I've switched to first-person, and I'm keeping this. It means that you'll learn things as soon as Hazuki does -puls it helps me keep better track of what my character is going through.

Please review, but no flames, etc. Enjoy

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><p>I sat with my back against a tree, removed from the main party of shinobi gathered around the fire, laughing as they blew on their hands to keep warm. They were mostly Chunin or Jonin. But I didn't care –I didn't care about any of them, and they all hated me.<p>

I was wearing black, as dark as the night and the same colour as my hate. My pants were shorts that were cinched shut just below the knees, with the lower halves of my legs wrapped in bandages. I wore a shirt that resembled a sleeveless kimono over my iron-meshed fishnet vest, tied shut with an obi. I wore black fingerless gloves and metal arm guards. I kept a tight grip on the tanto I had been given.

This wasn't my homeland –I was sure of that much. I couldn't remember anything beyond two years ago. But just by looking around, I saw the differences. So many of them were dark-skinned or tanned, so many with almost white-blond hair –and I was pale-skinned with red hair and dark-hued eyes.

My dark-red hair was something I couldn't hide. It was a flame upon the black that I wore. When it had been long, it was the target of bullying Genin and pre-Academy graduates, who had attacked my hair with scissors. Since then, I had kept it short, the loose bangs secured back with a ribbon of the same hue.

I wasn't a ninja of the Hidden Cloud –I was just a tool. I had been trained extensively, learning only the fundamentals and the points of the human body that were vulnerable and easy targets for a fatal kill, pushed to the point of breaking in the basics of kenjutsu and taijutsu time after time after time… in fact, I had broken once…

_It had been over a year and eight months ago, right at the start of my training; Yugito had been training me back then, focusing on taijutsu and kenjutsu. She was nice; she had treated me as though I was a human. I thought I had been making good progress –until the Raikage had come to test me._

_My head was slammed into the ground, held in the iron-grip of the Raikage. He was pinning me with only a tiny portion of his vast strength –I could feel it. _

_"Come on! Put up a fight, you useless sack of garbage!" he had shouted in my face, picking me up and throwing me back into the ground. _

_He kept calling me names, insulting me, beating me –then my blood had started to thump in my veins, drowning out the words, stirring up a strange and uncanny desire for blood. Something had whispered in my ear, tempting me, promising to punish those hurting me. I had taken the offer._

_Everything had gone dark, a pitch-black dark. I hadn't known what was going on in the real world –not until I was suddenly wrenched out of that darkness and left, drained and on the verge of collapse. I had fainted from exhaustion soon after that._

Since then, the Raikage had been harsh and demanding, the training had increased in intensity –but he seemed to have noticed my breaking point. I hadn't had a relapse, at any rate. I was pushed until I was mentally and physically drained, but I hadn't heard that voice that had bayed for blood again.

But the training wasn't the only thing that was harsher –I had somehow, without being conscious of it, destroyed almost a quarter of the village. The villagers, who had once been treating me like an ordinary child, now shunned me –none of the children came near me. Security measures had been put in place –in the form of Curse Seal jutsu on the back of my neck. If I so much as looked at someone wrong, someone of Jonin or higher level could cause an electric sheet to wrap around my entire body, sending bolts of energy through every fibre.

And a lot of Jonin just used it because they could. A lot of brats in the village seemed to have invented a game of telling lies about me to their parents –I had struck them, I had scared them, I had deliberately sliced them during training –and I got punished for it.

So I avoided people; I kept my rage hidden behind the cropped bangs of my hair. I trained hard so I could prove that I had some value; I wasn't their ace because I wanted to be –I was their ace because, inside, I was already dead inside.

I didn't understand the concept of being part of a family –if I had once, I couldn't remember. There was no-one waiting at home for me, no-one who would mourn me if I ended up dead tonight –in fact, the people of the Hidden Cloud village in the Land of Lightning would probably rejoice if I died on a mission. They could say that I was a useless rusty tool that had snapped on the battlefield and only good for being disposed of, and return to being happy –whatever that meant.

"Hey, Hazuki," someone said, and I looked up to see Yugito standing over me. Yeah –that was another thing; Yugito was different –she didn't treat me like the others did. She had never used the Cursed Seal on me, although others shocked me if I so much as addressed them 'incorrectly'. I couldn't figure out what her angle was yet.

"What is it?" I asked.

"The caravan should be passing our position in the next hour," she said. "The rest of the squad will draw off the ninja guarding it. Your mission is to…"

"Assassinate the drug lord," I said, interrupting her –if she had been any other Jonin, I wouldn't have done it. "I know, Yugito."

"I will be going in with you," she said. "If it's too difficult for you, I will perform the act. Hazuki, I…"

"I'm not your student," I say, my voice a soft growl. "I'm a tool for the village. The mission comes first, regardless of emotions. I can handle killing a person." _It helped that said person was also a cowardly criminal who was in fear of his own life. _I didn't say that out loud.

"Regardless, you're not alone in this," she said, laying a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off, getting to my feet. _A true ninja never shows attachment –it only endangers the mission._ Surely, as a Jonin, Yugito should know that.

The caravan passed by right on time. I peered through a spy-glass as I crouched in the branches of the trees that lined the road. I was wearing a radio-headset so that I could hear what was going on.

"Kumo ninja –attack!" I heard the Jonin in charge say. The caravan rumbled to a stop as the Kumo ninja leapt down the hill and into the ranks of the defending ninja. I got a glimpse of their forehead protectors –they were from the Hidden Waterfall Village. I stayed away from the battle, concealed in the branches of a tree.

The battle was turning in our favour. And apparently the crime-lord knew that as he stuck his head out of the window, shouting to the enemy ninja. I saw my chance, and reached into my ninja gear bag, pulling out a pair of senbon. They had caps over the ends, which I removed –there was no longer a need for a safety to avoid being poisoned by myself.

I threw the senbon as he preached to the badly beaten Waterfall ninja about how he should have never hired them –and tried to buy the Cloud ninjas' services. The metal bolts hit his jugular –a fatal spot with no additional muscle to protect against an attack, piercing the flesh and allowing the poison to seep into his bloodstream.

He was dead in moments, succumbing to both blood-loss and poison. The leading Jonin checked his pulse, and found him dead. The mission was complete. The Waterfall ninja just let us go –after all, they had been dismissed from their position as his body-guards moments before his death.

I lay on my small bed that night, staring up at the ceiling, wearing only my iron-meshed fishnet vest that I generally wore under my shirt and my trousers. It was chilly down here, in the cell deep below the Raikage's building with the entrance concealed by a bookcase in a stark and empty room –but I had gotten used to sleeping behind bars. I still hated the Kumo ninja for everything –all the torment and the agony I suffered on a daily basis here was the source of that hatred.

I turned my head to look at the bag of ninja gear that I had on the table beside my bed. I had often wondered why I was alive, what my purpose was.

Right now, my existence was empty, meaningless. And to live without a reason to fight that was your own –to live with a dark void inside you, to be a source of fear, whose only purpose was to kill or be killed –I had been one of the walking dead for so long.

I had no purpose for being here, no reason to keep on fighting. I was sick of life –I couldn't take it out on others, but I could take it out on myself.

I pushed myself up from where I was resting, reaching out a hand towards the bag –it would be so easy –when I heard the door at the top of the stairs clanking open. I got to my feet, trying to see who it was. Surely it wasn't morning already?

"Hazuki? Are you awake?" asked a female voice, and I had it pegged the moment the second syllable was out of her mouth.

"Yugito, what are you doing here?" I asked as she appeared at the other side of the cage door.

"First, answer me –what is your purpose for fighting? Why do you serve the Cloud village?"

I sat there, stunned for a moment –she knew the answer to this! "I fight because it's what I was born to do," I say. "I'm a tool for the village."

"That's not a reason," Yugito said. "I fight not just because it was my duty –I do it because this is my home, and I would gladly give my life for my homeland. But you –Hazuki, I've seen the way they treat you. This isn't your homeland –fighting for us was never your true fate. To them, you'll never be an equal –you'll never be free. Hazuki, you're a prisoner here –your only ties to us are only ones of hate. I've seen you crying when you thought no-one else could see you."

I was stunned by the speech –it had confirmed what I had suspected all along. _I wasn't one of them. _And I was shocked that anyone had heard, let alone _cared_, when I had cried; after the first few times, I had found that it wasn't going to do me any good. But after that –even tonight –I had only let tears run down my face when there was no-one else around. I often sobbed in the dark of this cell until I had fallen asleep.

"I don't get it," I said. There was the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs –someone else was coming. I saw the dark skin and blond hair and thought, for a brief moment, that it was the Raikage. Then I saw the tattoo on his right shoulder, with the kanji for "iron", and the one-strap white flak jacket. It was Killer B, the brother of the Raikage.

"When you have a demon within you, your heart goes hollow. But if you have things you can't bear to lose, they become a light for you to follow. The power of the tailed beasts within me and Yugito –and the demon inside you, although yours isn't one of the Tailed Ones –that demonic chakra isn't the only source of strength for a host. It is what was in our hearts before the monster was sealed within us that empowers us to any length –that is the true source of our powers."

_I had a demon –inside of me?_ I remembered that welcoming darkness –had that been the influence of the demon? _But when had it been placed inside me? And who had done it? _I still didn't understand –B's words just confused me even more. _A time before I had had this demon inside me?_ I couldn't remember that.

"You'll figure it out," B said.

_How was I supposed to do that while trapped in this cage –while I was a prisoner?_ My thought was answered as Yugito stuck a key into the lock of my cell-door, turning it.

"This is a one-chance only deal," Yugito said as she pulled the door open. "We can't risk being found out. If you don't take the chance now, there won't be another."

Freedom was beckoning me –there was no way I was going to not take it. I moved quickly, pulling on my shirt and securing my hip pouch to the right-hand side and slipping shruiken into the holster on my right thigh. Ready to go, I snuck through the open door. Yugito locked it as I ascended the stairs, Killer B ahead of me.


	4. Outcast

AN/ OK, here's where the new version begins to differ from the old version. I really need your reviews so that i know what you think. But as usual, I won't bother with flames. I'm open to constructive criticism, but nothing worse.

As usual, I don't own Naruto or its characters. Only my OCs belong to me

So read, enjoy and review.

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><p>Killer B smuggled me safely past the village patrols –all they saw was the jinchuriki leaving for his training ground in the Valley of Clouds and Lightning. When I was permitted to emerge from my Transformation state as one of his Supervibrato Lightning Blades, I found that we were in a water-filled valley, mist clinging to the surface.<p>

"Try not to get caught," Killer B said. I nodded once –I didn't know how to say thank you, or that I appreciated the risk he was taking for me. Emotions were as foreign to me as the concept of a family. I raced away, footsteps rippling as I moved across the shifting surface using only my chakra. I reached the far cliff wall out of the valley, scaling it –again, using nothing but my chakra.

I was on my own.

I ran, using all the training that the Cloud ninja had drilled into me. I knew that they wouldn't just let this slide –I was a powerful tool, an asset to the village that constantly craved jutsu and kekkai genkai, even in this time of peace. But now that I had turned 'rogue', I was sure that I would be viewed as a dangerous liability. I was sure that they would sent Jonin-level hunter-ninja out the moment they found that I was gone rather than risk me falling into the hands of their enemies and becoming a serious threat.

But I had an advantage –actually, now that I thought of it, more than one.

First, these guys had trained me intensively, too long and too hard –I knew how their operations worked, how many ninja were assigned to a squad, how many Hunter-nin there were and the regular patrolled routes of the borders. That meant I knew the best and unguarded routes to take, as well as the least likely (which meant that they were the safest) places to hide. I knew the terrain as well. I had been trained hard and long –the Raikage must have wanted me for espionage and assassinations –the fact that I had made my first kill at the age of six proved that.

Second –my control of chakra was well advanced for someone my age. There weren't any ninja-trainees in the Cloud Village Academy who were my age and could maintain any chakra to even perform a basic Clone. I could already run up the sides of trees and vertical cliffs as well as dance across water using nothing but chakra.

Thirdly and finally, there was the fact that I had the blessing of having a powerful kekkai genkai at my fingertips. I was sure that the rare blood-trait of my clan had been the primary reason I had been taken –besides my inner demon. I had already extensively expanded its capabilities just from practicing on my own –from the handful of petals that I could conquer up when I had been two years younger, to a storm of lethally sharp blades that I could command now –and that was the least of my talents. I had been raised and conditioned to be an effective and deadly tool.

I had to focus on getting over the border undetected –once I was out of the Land of Lightning, it would be beyond their effective range. Yeah, they could send ninja from other lands after me –to either capture or assassinate me –but it would just make them, one of the Great Shinobi Nations, seem weak if they were seemingly threatened by a girl. They wouldn't jeopardize their influence over me. I was sure that I would come across them again, though –and when I did, I would have to be stronger.

I was sure that the Raikage and the leading Jonin would suspect that I was returning to my home village, to my homeland, so they would look in the further-off lands that led there first, hoping to intercept me. But I wasn't going that way –I didn't know where I would be going.

I clutched at my stomach, covering the marking that I knew that only appeared when I was drained and on the point of exhaustion. It was the seal that kept the thing inside me. And what if that clan, that home village in some far-off land that I supposedly hailed from, was real –what would happen if they all hated me? Would they look at me with eyes that mixed hate, anger, disgust and fear together, like they did in the Hidden Cloud? I couldn't bear to find out –I wouldn't be able to stand being subjected to that agony again.

No. My only option was to start a completely new life, where none knew of my past or the thing sealed up inside of me.

Escaping the Land of Lightning seemed relatively easy now that I had done it, and I had found something that made it seem like a cake-walk. And that was finding a way to be accepted into another life was proving difficult.

The Land of Frost shared its northeast border with the Land of Lightning, and was a small shinobi nation. It shared a lot of similarities in terrain with the neighbour –as in high snow-covered peaks and deep ravines and gorges. But here, there were also plains that extended to the south –rolling farmland where the wheat and barley grew, where there were orchards of fruit trees rose from the earth.

I had found a hidden route that rove through a small ravine that was easily missed amongst the swirling currents of a river, merely by chance. It had been a rough ride until the water had flowed into a gentle pool and I had been able to clamber out –soaked, exhausted but alive. I had had to dispose of most of my gear, securing the kimono top so that it resembled a yukata. I kept the sandals as well –and the tanto.

Shivering, I had pressed on, shivering with the cold –but knowing that if I stopped to rest in the snow that was fluttering down around me, I would freeze to death in the cold. The forest was deep and dark, the ground bare earth from the passage of many feet, although there were a few patches of snow here and there. The trees were growing so close together that they formed a natural umbrella against the weather.

As I emerged from the last line of trees, I saw a village nestled on the snowy slopes below. I pulled back into the tree-line to study the settlement nestled between two towering mountains that obviously formed a natural border with the Land of Lightning. At what I presumed to be the entrance into the village, there was a plain worn-looking torii gate with faded paint markings. The houses that I could see had thatched and steeply-slanting roofs, set around fields that they must farm.

As I entered into the village, I had disposed of everything that marked me as a shinobi, burying the tanto and sandals under a thorn bush near the edge of the end of the trees. I had to be careful –I was still practically on the far side of the border with the Land of Lightning –beyond the border meant that they couldn't directly search here without having permission to come into the Land of Frost –but definitely not the range of their influence. I had to disguise what I was, as much as possible.

My last ties to the Hidden Cloud were now gone –apart from the Curse Mark tattooed onto the nape of my neck. For a moment, I reached up and covered the brand with my hand. I hated it, now more than ever.

As I stepped into the village, the heavy clouds overheads parted and white powdery snow began to fall in a curtain. As I began to explore, I realised that there was more to this village than what I had first seen. The village extended down the hill, with homes and fields scattered across wide and flat terraces; each level was ringed by a high wooden wall, constructed of poles tied together with rope and hammered into the ground.

Right now, it was winter. There were no crops to grow or harvest. People would be living through the coldest season in the warmth of their houses, surviving on what they had dug up from their farms over the autumn.

The streets were pretty much deserted, with the exception of a few children who were playing on the bank of a fast-flowing river that was swollen and meandering past the bottom of the village, beyond the final gate that led onto a main road which followed the banks of the river. It wound like a snake through the white landscape. Looking downstream, I saw a bridge that connected this side with the other –and on the far bank, I saw more empty and unused fields.

I sat on the high embankment, watching from a distance as the boys ran races on the flat bank, nearer to the drop-off into the water. But they stayed a distance from the water so that they didn't fall in.

The children were a mix of colours, I noticed as I watched –dark skin against pale or tanned skin. They were all wearing raggedly clothes and were as barefoot as I now was –but they all looked content with their lot in life.

The sun had been low enough already in the sky when I had first seen the village –and now the little daylight that was left was fading fast. I watched as the boys left, walking with women back to the village and the warmth of their homes. Meanwhile, I was ignored and unnecessary –and I knew that I would never find a home here. The people here were happy despite their poverty –the families were large enough already. None would take in a street-rat –they wouldn't have enough food, or money, or love for an additional mouth in these harsh months.

I wandered into the back-alleys, scavenging in bins for any pickings of food. Cats scratched, crows cawed and pecked and dogs bit, making it known that they were first on the pecking order and didn't tolerate a human interloper. Eventually, I settled on the bridge, drawing my knees up to my chest. I was cold, starving and miserable.

I heard footsteps moving across the bridge from the far bank, but I didn't bother looking up at the stranger who wouldn't notice a child curled up on the roadside –even if they did, they would have enough concerns without adding to their problems.

"You're alone aren't you, little one?" I heard a male voice ask as I looked up; I was surprised that anyone would stop and speak to me. The man was in his mid-thirties, with long black hair and a trimmed goatee. He was barefoot, wearing a sheepskin coat over a ragged-looking kimono; he was leaning heavily on a wooden walking stick.

I met his eyes –grey, as heavy as the clouds overhead –but they were not filled with hate. I didn't reply to his question –the fact that I was out here, alone, with night rapidly approaching should answer his question on its own.

"You'll die before the end of winter, a beggar's death, if you live out here," he said. Again, I didn't answer. "Your eyes remind me of mine –you've been on your own, with no-one to care about you."

What did he know? I still kept my silence.

"Why don't you come along with me?" he said, holding out a hand. I stared at the offered hand, then up into the face. It was a sincere offer –but why? "I live on my own, in an empty house," the man said. "I have no family, and harvest has been good for me this year. There is too much for a lonely old man like me to eat. Plus, I could use the company and you need a home."

I reached up and took his hand.


	5. Village of Hate

This is my next chapter

I don't own Naruto etc. The only characters that are mine are the OCs

Enjoy, review -but no flames

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><p>The man's name was Toru Kazayomi. His home turned out to be a farmstead surrounded by a copse of fir trees, about a mile from the main gate into the village, nestled in a valley on the far side of the mountain's base, where the land was flat and the sides of the mountains were steep. We got to the house just as the sun was beginning to set.<p>

He was a simple wood-smith, he told me as we sat in front of the fire on the first floor. He earned a living by cutting down trees in the forests on this side of the mountain and producing charcoal –wood and charcoal were used the people in the village used for heating and cooking.

He taught me how to help, and I did my best. I was happy –even if I remained here for the rest of my life and lived here on this farm, I would be content. But then, everything changed –the day I went into town with Toru.

It was a trip that Toru told me he made frequently in these harsh and cold winters. At this time of year, when the weather was at its worst and people shivered inside, they were in greatest need of fuel for their fires.

I was wearing a check-patterned kimono that Toru had given me, a sheepskin coat like his pulled over my shoulders to keep out the worst of the cold. I was carrying a pack with logs and bags of charcoal, following Toru's lead. Our first stop was an inn near the entrance of the village.

"Many people come through this village on their way to and from the Land of Lightning," Toru told me as we approached. "This is the main tavern in town -those with excess funds from selling their harvest occasionally visit here."

The inside of the tavern was smoky; there was a bar running along the back wall, and people sat in booths with food and drink. A sudden silence fell as some of the men noticed Toru entering the tavern.

Unease flooded my stomach; I recognised the looks –they were glares of hate. But they weren't being directed at me –the glares and dark expressions were focused on the man who had saved me from dying from cold on the streets. But why?

Toru didn't even seem to notice the dislike; he simply passed over to the barkeeper and handed a bag of charcoal and a neat pile of fresh, dry and chopped firewood. He was given a handful of ryo –and then he led me from the bar.

It was like that at every place we went to –hate, mistrust and dislike directed solely at Toru. Only one person seemed to be different –the village elder, when we delivered the supplies to him. But even then, I sensed that there was barely suppressed dislike.

And the village elder was the first person to notice me.

"Who's the girl, Toru?" he asked. He smiled at me, but I felt nervous about it, and ducked behind Toru. He places a hand on my head.

"This is Hazuki," he said. "I rescued her from an untimely death on the streets."

As we left the village about an hour later, after a few more rounds, I was quiet. The unease and hate in that town –it was almost palpable, and all directed at Toru.

"What's wrong, Hazuki?" Toru asked as he led the way back to the house. "I can tell that something's bothering you."

"It's just –why does everyone seem to hate you?" I asked. I knew it was blunt, but I needed to know.

"This village –many people who live here escaped from a great calamity brought about by war, and they hate anyone who reminds them of that time of turmoil. Tell me –have you ever heard of the Second Shinobi War?"

"No," I responded. And it was true –my training in the Hidden Cloud had consisted of techniques, weapons and the vital spots to aim for. They had never taught me anything about history or the surrounding geography. I didn't even know how to read or write.

"Great names arose during that time –but it was a time of great upheaval and turmoil for ordinary people. The battles were harsh –whole villages and lands were destroyed by battling shinobi. Nations were forcibly extending their territory. Ninja were used as mercenaries, and their battles were fierce.

"In this war, different sides battled each other using ninja, some of whom possessed kekkei genkai. After the war ended, the memories of the horrific battles still lingered in the minds of the people. Those with kekkei genkai –those with any ninjutsu skills –quickly became feared and hated for their abilities, out of concern that their existence would only bring about more war.

"This village was built as a refuge for those whose villages had been destroyed. They live a peaceful community –and while they allow passing shinobi to rest and pass through here, they fear those who can control chakra."

I looked around at him –was he really a shinobi? But before I could ask the question, I heard the sound of running feet. I looked around to see men from the village running towards us. They were carrying farming gear –kusarigama, blades, and pickaxes and shovels.

"Can I help you?" Toru asked.

"Yeah –hand over the kid," the largest man said. He was muscular, wearing a kimono that didn't conceal the scars on his arms and chest. "Someone like you has no right to raise a child. Who knows what damage you'll cause?"

I tucked behind Toru, clinging to his leg as I peered around from behind him. The man look stunned, and then turned furious eyes on Toru.

"What the hell have you done to the kid?"

"I rescued her from dying on the streets," Toru replied. "Thanks to me, Hazuki has a future. And I believe she has made her choice apparent."

The men weren't going to back down, and I could see the men clenching their fists. A fight was imminent –I could tell,

"Hazuki –back off a few feet, if you would," Toru requested, a calm determination. I did as he asked, backing behind a tree. Toru spoke to the men, his tone firm. It might sound crazy –an elderly man taking on a gang of men in their prime –but if what I thought was right, the men didn't stand a chance.

I could sense Toru's chakra beginning to rise. He moved at a speed I could barely follow –his age didn't seem to have diminished any of his ability.

When I blinked again, the men were lying sprawled on their backs, some lightly groaning. The leader was on his hands and knees, and seemed to be coughing up blood. His gaze flickered to where I was, before he lost consciousness and slumped forward.

I felt a shadow fall across my back –then someone's hands wrapped around my waist and mouth. Instinct roared through me; I whipped my elbow around, into the ribs. I could feel the person gasp in pain; the grip loosened. I whirled around, slamming a hand into the attacker's stomach and chin, funnelling my chakra into the blows to enhance the power behind them. The person who had grabbed me flew from me, sprawling into the ground, groaning slightly as he lost consciousness.

"That was impressive," I heard Toru say. I looked around to see that he had a hand against the truck of the tree, studying me. "You know how to use chakra –you've had some ninja training, haven't you?"

I nodded, unsure what was coming now. A hand rested on my hair –a gesture that was rapidly becoming familiar to me. I looked up into Toru's eyes.

"I may not be able to teach you the ninjutsu I know, but I can teach you a few things," he said.

My life had changed on that day, for better or worse. On one hand, I had scored a caring and loving mentor; he taught me everything that I had missed out on about history, reading and writing. Under his guidance, I learned about the precise points in the body that marked a fatal spot. He sharpened and fashioned me wooden senbon needles, watched and guided me through various poisonous plants that grew in the woods, as well as several poison-based techniques.

On the other side of the hand, I was now subject to the same looks of dislike in the village –although none had attacked me yet. After that one confrontation, none had come after us again. No-one had tried to remove me from Toru's care again.

Several times, I wondered about telling Toru about my kekkei genkai –but in the end, I decided against doing so.

I fell into the routine of life on the farm, and in the village. I kept my eyes down whenever I went to town, and tried to get out as fast as possible. There was a reason for my haste that had nothing to do with the fear and growing hate towards me –I had been here for three months, and Toru had fallen ill, leaving me to do the work on the farm alone.

I hadn't seen what caused it –I hadn't seen it coming. One day, he was fine; the next afternoon, I had found him slumped in the flower-borders. I hadn't left his side after that, applying all the medicinal knowledge I had learnt from him. A few hours later, he had regained consciousness.

"Don't worry, Hazuki," he said. "I have been ill for a while –there is no cure. I am not as young as I once was –my ninjutsu takes a lot more chakra out of me than it used to." He praised my efforts, but I could sense a feeling of finality in his voice. And I realised –maybe this was the reason he had taken me in –not just saving me, but a desire for company before he died.

The villagers had it all wrong –he was just an old and frail man, looking for peace after a life of battle and bloodshed, and ultimately of loss and pain. After all, that was the path that the shinobi had to walk. How many friends had he seen fall? How many people had mourned the deaths he had caused?

I shaded my eyes against the sun. Early spring was beckoning –every day, new roots pushed up through the earth. It was the first day of March today. The patches of snow were getting thinner, and I used the opportunity to pick several herbs that I knew were good for treating pains and spasms. My medical knowledge balanced my lore on poisons –I had to know how to analyze and create antidotes should I be poisoned, as well as knowing the effects of poisonous plants.

The patches of snow weren't the only things getting thinner –day by day, I was watching Toru fade away.

I wiped my eyes clear of tears –it went against the shinobi rules. Even though I hadn't been able to read them, the Cloud Ninja had still expected me to memorise and live by them. And I had memorised them –I had them word for word.

_A true ninja never shows attachment –it only endangers the mission… A true shinobi never shows emotion, regardless of the situation. Feelings are unnecessary, and only cloud his judgement and dim his reason…_

And I was breaking both. I adored Toru –I couldn't even imagine what I was going to do when he finally passed away. And I had never been able to force away my tears. But I didn't care –although we were taught to put the mission and responsibility over our feelings, to accept that every mission brought the possibility of dead comrades –we were still human.

I was still a human being –not a monster or a demon, regardless of what I had locked inside of me. That thought brought me some piece of mind.

I stood up and began the walk back to the house. As I reached the front gate, I stopped in my tracks. Something was wrong. The door, which I had closed behind me, had been reduced to match-wood, splintered and broken. Someone had broken in.

I drew a kunai that I had concealed in my basket, moving carefully but quickly. I had no idea who was in here, so I had to be careful. I moved up the porch and moved into the room beyond the door. I froze as I took in the sight before me.

Toru was lying where I had left him, eyes closed, peacefully resting on the mats and covered by the blankets. But there was a gaping hole where his heart was, and blood had splattered his face. There were also superficial cuts on his chest, as though someone had been stabbing at him.

I knew, as soon as I looked at him, saw the blood lying around his bed –Toru was dead, and it hadn't been natural causes. My fists clenched as I knelt beside him, laying a pair of fingers on his neck –I wasn't jumping to conclusions, despite the appearances. But there was no pulse –he really was gone.

But who could have done this?

Of course –it was so obvious. I had seen and shared the hate-filled looks from the villagers.

No-one ever came out this far from the village –this area had almost been safe. Someone had come here –probably one of the men from the village –and sliced up a man who couldn't defend himself.

There was no-one in the village who would mourn his passing –and all of them were suspects. I wouldn't take my anger and hate out on the whole village –no, I would wait and find out who had delivered the killing blow. Then I would strike back.


	6. Life of Deceit

As per usual, I don't own Naruto etc. the OCs are mine though

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><p>A month passed; it was now late in April. I had buried the body and prepared a booby-trapped grave. I had no reason to go near the village as winter was a long way away and the roads had reopened, allowing merchants to sell all the wood that the village needed. I kept the farm running, looking after the animals that Toru had kept on the farm. The animals were taken up to the hills behind the farm every day, and I remained close to them, making sure that none of the herd wandered too far away and watching for any signs of wild animals.<p>

Every night, after I had eaten and ensured the animals were properly locked up, I crept away from the farm and into the village. There, I watched and listened.

Apparently, children from orphanages and the area where those who had fled their homelands when they had been devastated by war were disappearing. Even those who lived in the village began to fear what was happening in that quarter –it was as though they were afraid that their own children would be next to vanish.

There was only one suspect –Toru. They whispered that I might be helping him, considering how blindly I followed the old man, but that was mere rumour with no certainty. But so far I hadn't heard anyone bragging about killing the old man –in fact, they were insulting him, speaking about him as though he was still alive, as though he was a criminal.

One night, I stole into town as usual, heading to the home of the village elder where the debate had been going on for several weeks about what to do about Toru –whether to drive him out of the area or accost him about the children. None of them doubted his guilt –and still no-one had yet admitted to his assassination.

I scaled up onto the roof, moving aside a loose patch in the thatch that I had created to allow me to crawl into the loft undetected. From there, I would be able to hear every word.

"…Things are getting critical," I heard the village elder saying. "The men grow more and more restless; they bay for his blood with each passing day. But not one of them has the strength to compete with a shinobi. The ninja from the Hidden Frost cannot help us, and those from the Hidden Cloud are too expensive for simple farming folk to be able to hire."

"Toru Kamayomi is a rogue from our village," I heard a female voice say. I couldn't see the speaker. "Kidnapping children from villages seems to be a skill of his. We have been hunting for him for a while."

"As far as I know, he lives in a farm on the far side of the village. There is one thing you should know –he has taken in a child."

"What did you say?" the female leader asked, shock obvious in her voice.

"I saw her one time –dark red hair, dark eyes. She's also young, maybe six or seven. There's something chilling about her –when I looked into her eyes once, I saw nothing but fear and loneliness. I sent my son after a mob of men, to try and get the girl to safety from Toru –he came back with cracked ribs. From what he told me, his attacker hadn't been Toru –the child has some experience with fighting. The force she used was almost fatal."

"Toru isn't the sort to just take in a child," the female said. Then quietly, almost to herself, she muttered. "I wonder what his angle is."

"My request comes in two parts; firstly, determine whether or not Toru really is behind this. His fate, I leave in your hands. Secondly, find a way to save that child."

I had heard enough. I left the house with a lot to think about –firstly that it had been the old man who had sent that attacker when I had first been with Toru. And now, ninja arrived from a village, with orders from the village-head to assassinate an already-dead man.

But why were the ninja after him? There was only one way I would find out.

I had my guard up –I knew the ninja were coming. I had to admit, they were fast –my guard was up, and yet I barely sensed them before they arrived. I barely managed to dodge the blade as it whipped inches past my head.

I moved as I had seen Toru move –I had his style memorised from all the times we had sparred together. It was one of the ninja –the female. She was holding a drawn katana, her black hair tied back in a ponytail. Her face was covered by a porcelain mask designed to resemble a bird's face, wearing a black one-piece under grey chest armour. She was wearing long black fingerless gloves that came up to her elbows under metal arm guards, and shin guards. As she came at me again, lashing out with a leg, I was able to deflect the blow and, using my chakra to increase the power in my fist, slammed my fist into her stomach. She backed off, nursing her stomach. I hadn't pierced the skin, but I knew that I had dealt some damage.

"Your powers don't seem to have been diminished, Toru," she said. Her tone was icy-cold and full of hate.

I smiled behind my disguise. I had assumed the form of Toru through the Transformation jutsu –I looked like my sensei. That was all the ninja was seeing. _A ninja must see through deception_… and this ninja had fallen for my deception.

"What makes you think I'm Toru?" I asked, releasing the ninjutsu in a puff of smoke. I sent a burst of chakra into the soles of my feet as the other two arrived, taking me upwards and onto the roof. I latched onto the roof, anchoring myself with more chakra.

"Your name's Hazuki, right?" one of the others said –both were male. "Why would you imitate him like that?"

"What took you two so long to get here? I thought the plan was to attack in the same instance at the first moment of combat," the female said, before glancing up at me. "Although I'm glad that didn't happen, considering who our opponent actually was."

"We ran into a little bit of trouble on the approach," one of the males said. "There were quite a number of traps in there –Toru obviously anticipated our arrival."

"So what do we do now?" the other male said. I wasn't sure, but he sounded younger than the other. "Toru's probably run again, leaving this kid as a decoy."

"Toru's dead," I growled out. I saw their eyes focus on me. "He was murdered a month ago."

The three shared a glance between them –I assumed that was what they were doing. I couldn't see their expressions behind those masks, and I heard no words being passed between them.

"Are you sure of that?" the man I had pegged as the older of the two males asked. As I turned to look at him, he disappeared from my view. I sensed his presence behind me an instant later. But before I could do anything, something hit the back of my head, and I began to topple into unconsciousness.

I woke up slowly –my head was spinning. I was lying on my side, facing the warmth of the fire –and I could hear the hum of quiet voices.

"…Seems to believe that Toru is really dead," I heard one voice –a male one, the one who had apparently knocked me out. "And she seems to be taking it hard. He really concealed his true nature well."

"You don't believe he's really dead, do you?" the younger male asked.

"No, I don't," the older man said. "Toru was never the sort to succumb to illness and not be able to take out at least one assailant. So I don't think he's dead –either he ran, or he retreated into hiding, using murder as a cover. Either way –he did a good job of it."

"What about the girl? Did you gleam anything from her past?" the woman asked. "Why would she latch onto a worm like Toru?"

"I didn't look too deeply, but I sensed her emotions seething. All of her life, she has only known loneliness and hatred. I didn't see images –all I got was raw emotion. When she met Toru, he was the first person who showed her kindness."

"He was always manipulative," the woman said. "It was a trait he must have learnt from that snake Orochimaru."

"So now we have to find out where he's hiding and where he's keeping the children," the younger male said. "I doubt the girl's involvement in this extends beyond that of a decoy."

"True," the other male said. "I would have seen it in her mind if she was involved. But there's nothing about possible hiding places or Toru besides a presumably faked death."

I lay there –was that true? Was he hiding somewhere, having faked his own death? Hope mixed with trepidation –why would he do something like that? He knew how much I idolised him, how much he meant to me.

But if he was alive, I had no idea where he would go. Or… did I?

The entrance to a cavern swam into my mind. I had seen it many times, located in the deepest part of the forest that nestled into the foothills that backed onto the farm. It was half-a-day from here. I had never been allowed inside –the one time I had tried, Toru had quickly pulled me away from the entrance.

_"Don't go in there, ever," he said. "That cavern is the entrance to an old graveyard. There are deadly traps and ancient ambushes lying within, waiting to ensnare the unaware intruder. The Ancients never wanted intruders to enter their sacred grounds. Promise me, Hazuki, that whatever happens, you will not enter into that death-trap."_

_"I promise," I had replied._

It was the only area I had been forbidden from entering. If Toru was really alive –if he had used and then discarded me –then that was a highly likely place for him to be. I didn't want to believe that he was evil, I wanted there to be a reasonable explanation for what he had done.

And if there wasn't such a reason… I wanted to be the one who killed him.

The ninja were outside the entrance, talking in lowered tones. I got up carefully, climbing the ladder as stealthily as a shadow until I got to the second floor. There, I opened the window of the bedroom that had once been Toru's. It was at the back of the house, out of sight of the ninja, with a view out over the foothills. I jumped from the window-sill and took off. It was dark –I had obviously not been out for as long as I had feared.

It took me an hour of straight-out running, jumping between tree branches at top speed, before I landed on a branch overlooking the entrance into the cave beyond. Toru's warnings all rang through my head as I stared at the gaping hole in the wall where the entrance was concealed in gaping shadows. The darkness seemed to be a mouth, leading into a stomach of a monster.

For a moment, I imagined I could see figures in the entrance to the cavern, all different ages, some male and others female –and all at different stages of decomposing.

My eyes widened as I sensed something behind me. But when I turned my head around, I could see nothing and sense no presence there. For a moment, my resolve faltered. For an instant, I was sorely tempted to go back to the house, let the ninja know where this place was and let them deal with it. I shook my head –the ghost stories I had heard about this place were messing with my head. My resolve hardened again –if Toru was using me, I was going to face him alone.

I jumped out of the tree-branch, landing at the entrance while barely stirring a leaf. I pulled out a kunai knife, edging forward slowly. The way ahead looked clear, but that was no guarantee. Burial ground or secret hideaway –I had to be careful not to run into any traps.

The first few traps were easy to locate scattered around the entrance, stretched-out trip-wires that were barely visible. But Toru had trained me to find as well as lay traps. The trip-wires connected to kunai set into the walls and ceiling of the entrance. One thing that I noticed as I moved was that the traps looked far too modern and recent for them to be ancient.

Inside, there were stalactites and stalagmites gripping to the ceiling and rising from the floor. I could see more traps, more cleverly concealed. But I knew Toru's trap jutsu –I knew just where to look to find the tricks. If nothing else, I had learnt how each trap was to be set.

I perched on the side of a stalactite with nothing more than chakra; there was a stalagmite ahead of me, with a paper-bomb stuck to its surface. Scanning to the sides, I saw another paper-bomb on a stalactite to the left. Very clever –a Perimeter Barrier trap.

An array of four explosive tags arranged around a set area. There was a time delay on the tags –once a target crossed the area, there would be just enough time for the person to get to the centre, just in time to catch the full blast of the trap and have no way out.

I continued, skirting the Perimeter Barrier trap, testing the way ahead carefully with each step, marking each trap with a kunai knife so that I knew what was where. I moved through the cave, until I came to the rear wall –where I found something completely out of place. A section of the rock was missing, clearly blown out and then shaped into an arched-doorway. Beyond was a corridor carved into the rock.

This was definitely new. Within the confined space of the corridor, I was even more wary –there was less room to manoeuvre. Every single step could be a potential trap, and reacting to one might only set off another.

But there was nothing. I moved slowly; the way was lit by flames in candle holders along both walls. There was a door up ahead, and I carefully pushed it open. My kunai was drawn and ready –but I was far from ready for the sight before me.

The children were here alright –held in suspension cells lining every wall I could see. Some of them I recognised from the village. It looked like they were asleep, floating in a green liquid, with masks over their faces and connected to wires. I wandered between their cells, unable to believe what I was seeing.

Toru… was he really behind this?

"Hazuki," I heard a voice say from behind me. I wielded around, kunai up. My eyes widened as I saw Toru standing there, looking exactly as I remembered him.

"Are you… real?" I asked. My breath was soft, tears threatening the rims of my eyes. He held out his arms; without thinking, I began to move towards his embrace. I reached out a hand, touched him. He was solid. I let him wrap his arms around me, feeling safe and secure for the first time in a long time.

"You look so thin and worn, Hazuki. I'm sorry my actions have caused you so much pain," he said quietly. Suddenly, none of what had happened mattered. He was here –he was alive and well. I should never have doubted him.

Suddenly, I heard a whooshing sound, and Toru pushed me to the side, a kunai sticking out of his side. Even as he fell, he changed, becoming an outline of blue energy. _What?_

There was an explosion of power as lightning crackled where Toru had been, leaving nothing but an electrical discharge. Someone had me in their arms –and it was not Toru.

"Are you alright?" I heard the woman's voice ask. I looked up at her –I could feel myself trembling. "That was a Lightning Style: Shadow Clone –one of Toru's specialities," she told me as I shivered. "When it is dispersed –like it was then –it reverts to the natural lightning-state, electrocuting whoever it was touching."

I had been so close to death, and I hadn't realised it. I hadn't noticed that it was a trap –then it sank in like a stone. Toru had tried to kill me! My fists clenched at my sides in anger.

"Don't worry –we'll get you out of here," the woman said. "Just leave the fighting to us." And then she was gone, leaving me on the side-lines.

"Why?" I breathed to myself, still unable to believe that the man I had idolised, the man I had loved as a father, had tried to kill me.

"Are you asking 'why did I take you in' or is it that you can't figure out why I tried to kill you?" I heard a voice say. I jumped away from the source in a heart-beat –there was no way I was going to get caught in the same trap twice. I hadn't been able to tell Toru from the last clone –I wasn't going to make that mistake again.

I could hear the sounds of battle –the ninja were distracted from me, fighting either the real one or an army of clones. I was on my own, facing this enemy that could easily be clone as much as the original.

"Both," I said. I had a plan –I just needed to buy time why I put the pieces in place. "Why did you do it? You knew that I saw you as a father –I looked up to you."

"Of course I knew it," Toru said. "And that's what made it easy for me to control you –your admiration blinded you. You saw only the surface, an illusion I created. Admiration –there's nothing more pointless. I saw a bitter abandoned brat –your ninja skills only made you even more valuable –and I made sure you saw what I wanted."

So I had been used –again. Fury coiled in my gut, like a cobra waiting to rear forward and to bite the man before me. "I was nothing more than a decoy for you, a means to disappear," I growled, angry. "And what do you want with these kids?"

"Lord Orochimaru gave me a very important task to carry out when he blessed me with this Curse Mark," he said, showing his chest as he pulled aside the lapel over the right-hand side of his chest. There were three slightly curved lines there, which spread in a rip-like pattern. "I was to scour the globe for the rarest Kekkei Genkai, those presumed gone from the world, wiped out in war…"

Now it made sense –Toru had told me himself that the village was the home of numerous refugees who had fled their destroyed homelands. The reason ninja were not welcomed anywhere near the village was a fear that they would only bring more battle, more torment and pain. Whole clans had fought on both sides, wielding their bloodline traits against one another. There had to be survivors, those who had inherited the bloodline –whether or not they actively possessed it or merely carried it.

For someone like Toru, this village would have seemed the perfect place to prey upon.

I had lured him in –he was preaching to the world, completely distracted. It was now all never. My hands flickered through the hand-signs, one after another –monkey, horse, dog and ram.

"I'd advise against moving around anymore, Toru-sensei," I sneered as the tags I had strategically placed glowed white. "You should know what happens if you're fool enough to move once caught in this jutsu; after all, you're the one who taught me it."

"Seal and Capture Perimeter," he growled. "You're going to pay for this."

Something blurred past me; I blinked as I saw Toru was suddenly impaled by three drawn swords. They were sticking right out of his body. The blades were withdrawn, and the old man slumped to the ground.

"Nice work, Hazuki," the woman said. "I never imagined taking down Toru would be that…" she trailed off. My eyes were on the body –it was moving, despite the fact that all the swords had pierced his vital spots. Blood was pouring from his mouth and chest, but his eyes held pure murder.

The three shinobi dropped, paralyzed. I didn't understand –what was happening? One moment they had been fine, and the next, they were on the ground. I looked up, meeting Toru's gaze –and suddenly the air turned heavy. In an instant, I saw myself, cut in half –bisected. I collapsed to my knees as well –what the hell was that? For an instant, a split second, I had seen the moment of my death. In that instant, my perimeter became useless.

"That was a nice attempt –but no E-rank technique is going to do anything to me," I heard Toru say as he approached us. I was desperately trying to think –had that been a genjutsu or a ninjutsu? No, there was no illusion there. All he had done was make eye contact –his thirst for our blood was almost palpable.

"Killing intent," whispered the woman beside me. I stared –was that possible? Did the drive and desire to kill really have such power? None of the ninja here were pushovers –and yet they had it worse than me. And Toru was approaching, drawing four shruiken –he was moving in for the kill. I was literally looking death in the face.

Suddenly I felt it –the thump of blood. But it wasn't my heart-beat –that had been thundering for a while like a rabbit. This felt slower, calmer –almost reacting in excitement to the killing intent. A strange darkness crept into one eye, and I immediately covered it as I realised –this was exactly what I remembered from the Hidden Cloud moments before I had blacked out and ended up attacking the village –the same sense of calm and power coursing through my body, right before I had heard that sweetly tempting voice.

_No, it was not happening again. If I lost control here_ –there would be nothing to save the village. I wasn't going to let the thing inside me control my body and soul again.

I glared up at Toru as he approached, my eye uncovered for the briefest second –and I saw him fall to his knees, coughing up blood and bile. Then, whatever was inside me retreated, its job apparently done.

I regained my feet; the ninja were still down –somehow, the effects on me had been reversed onto my enemy. It was up to me to finish this –the way I had wanted it since I had entered this cave.

So Toru was after Kekkei Genkai –I would show him the raw power of my bloodline trait.

Toru wasn't moving an inch –this was my one and only chance. I focused my chakra as I made a Ram hand-sign, directing the flow of my chakra into the soles of my feet, and then into the ground. We were in the earth itself –I had the advantage.

Grass immediately started sprouting; but it wasn't ordinary grass. It twisted into a thick vine, feeding off my chakra that ran through it. It was called Grass Trap, and it responded to my will. I had refined my techniques alone, concealing myself in the forest where I had first emerged from –far away from prying eyes, and far away from Toru. And I was glad of that, as the tendrils wrapped around him, the hooked ends latching onto his wrists, arms, shoulders and torso, the ropes swirling around him to bind him down.

"What the…" Toru began, partly in shock and partly in horror. He cried out as he felt the side-effect from being snared in this trap. "What are you doing? My chakra…"

"Grass Trap has a deadly little side-effect," I say as the tentacles of grass tightened around him, writhing and slithering like snakes. "First, it attacks you, homing in on your chakra –the moment you're caught, it drains you dry."

"What kind of jutsu is this?" Toru shouted.

"It's unique to me," I say. "This is my Kekkei Genkai."

"If you think… I'm going to let you steal my chakra like this… you're wrong!" Toru panted, straining against the hold. I tightened my focus –I'd never used it in battle, and Toru wasn't the only one being affected by a chakra-drain. Keeping Grass Trap going demanded chakra on levels I didn't have.

Toru's chakra was increasing –too much for my Grass Trap to properly absorb it. Slowly, flame-like markings were spreading across Toru's body and face. His chakra levels –they were increasing rapidly. It was too much –I was blown backwards off my feet.

For a moment he towered over me, leering and with a sword drawn from inside his cane; then, for some weird reason that made no sense to me, the power seemed to almost reverse. Toru's eyes widened –he screamed. At first, it was a powerful yell, but it dried up quickly as the strength left every part of him.

I watched in horror as whatever those marks were began to recede. His muscles seemed to burn out on him; his hair whitened and began to fall out. The blood poured faster from his chest, and then he crumpled, pitching forward. I stared at the corpse, almost expecting Toru to rise to his feet again. Then I crawled over slowly, rolling him onto his back and ignoring the bulging eyes and eternal expression of horror as I searched for a pulse.

There was nothing –and this time, there was no way this was a corpse doll.

"What a way to go," the woman said. She sounded almost –sad.

"I don't understand. What just happened?" I asked. "How come his body just broke down like that?"

"I suspect it had something to do with that Curse Mark," she said. "At a guess, I would say he was a test subject of Orochimaru's –someone he used to test the power of that mark on. But it was incomplete –when he tried to use it, it consumed his chakra in an instant.

"If he had lived, he would have lost all his battle and physical prowess; his days of a ninja were over the moment he activated that curse mark."

I felt a tear running down my face, and I brought a hand to my eyes, collecting the moisture that was there. "Why… why do I feel like this?" I wondered quietly. He had used me, tried to kill me in the end. So why was his death so hard for me to accept?

"I think I know," the woman said. "Whenever someone accepts you, even someone who has no honour or kindness in their own hearts... that person becomes the most important person in the world to you. Toru –he was the first in your life to show you kindness and what you thought was love, wasn't he? So you were willing to do anything for him."

I was never going to be able to trust anyone again. I sobbed at the idea. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up. The bird-mask was gone –I could see the woman's face. She had beautiful fair skin, looked to be in her mid-thirties and had strong amber eyes. Her smile was gentle, calming –and somehow I knew I was looking at someone who really understood what love was.

"My name is Megumi Takeda," she said. "I can give you a real home, a real family –a new life free from the terrors you've experienced. Do you want to come?"

I had nowhere else to go, no-one who would take me in. I stepped forward and placed my arms around her neck. When she returned the embrace, it was kind.

"Just promise… you won't use me," I whispered.

"Of course not," Megumi said. "What sort of mother would use their child?"

Mother… the word was so foreign to me. But I knew that that was what I had wanted, as I watched shadows run to others in the back of my mind, as I watched the children in the village head home, holding their mother's hands. I wanted a home, a family, people who would cherish me without demanding anything of me in return for their favour.

A couple of days later, we were standing at the entrance to the headman's house. We had returned the children –Mother and I –while the other two had disposed of the remains of the missing-nin.

I had watched the joyous reunions –mothers wrapping their arms around their children, covering their cheeks with kisses, the teary eyes of their fathers shining in delight as they ruffled their sons' hair and kissed their daughters –and I hadn't felt the stirrings of jealousy or hate. After all, I had a mother of my own again.

"Thank you for all your work," the elder said to my mother, who was wearing her mask again and had a cloak about her shoulders. "And Hazuki –we all owe you a thank you, and a sincere apology."

I ducked behind my mother, shy and blushing. I wasn't comfortable around others yet –in fact, I figured it would be a while before I was ready. Mother laid a hand on my head gently.

As we walked through the village, the villagers lined the streets to see us off. I thought at first that it was because they were glad to be rid of me –but then a couple of boys were pushed forward by their mothers near the gate onto the main road.

"Sorry we never included you in our games," one of the boys said. The other boy held out a bouquet of spring flowers towards me. I was perplexed.

"Will you keep in touch?" the boy with the bouquet asked. Now I really didn't know what to say. Luckily, Mother was there to help.

"It won't be too difficult –hawks can fly far and fast," she said. "Friends are too valuable to say no to. And if you boys ever need help, don't forget to come to the Hidden Leaf with your requests."

Friends –was what these boys wanted? But what was a 'friend'? How was I supposed to know what one was when I had never had one before –or maybe I had, but couldn't remember.

I took the bouquet, nodding in agreement to those words although I had no idea about the concept under which I was accepting this. All I knew was that the boys seemed generally happy as I departed –and not because I was going.


	7. Konohagakure

Merry Christmas! I hope you're all having a good holiday and getting all the presents you wanted. Oh, and here's my present to you all.

I don't own Naruto, etc -only my OCs.

So read, enjoy, review -but no flames! And enjoy the festive spirit

* * *

><p>"You know the rules of the village, Megumi," the elderly man said as he sat behind his desk. He was an elderly man, with white hair, but I could tell he was the Hokage –he was wearing the official uniform with the hat and hoari, with red colourings and the kanji for 'fire' on his hat.<p>

Hokage –that meant he was the strongest ninja of the Hidden Leaf, one of five throughout the world who were allowed the title of 'Kage'. I compared him in my mind to A, the Raikage –thickset, with raw power, demanding respect just by being in the room. Compared to that, the Third Hokage didn't look like much –just an elderly man long past his prime –and yet I knew that he had to be powerful if he was still Hokage. And right now, he was the one determining my fate.

Right now, we were standing in his office; I was standing before him, holding Megumi's hand. She wasn't dressed in the uniform she had been wearing when I had met her; she was wearing a purple and white kimono that trailed to the ground, although I knew that she was carrying a tanto in the sleeve of one arm. I had been given a pink kimono, tied up with a white obi that had a floral design on it. My hair was kept clear from my face with a hair-band with golden embellishments and a faux-rose on the left side.

"We do not ordinarily take in orphans from other lands," he said eventually. He was reading through some paperwork –the results of medical and psychological tests that had been run when I had been brought back to the village. I still remembered the dimly-lit room, sitting on a chair in the middle of a seal, ANBU agents masked around me. It had been a rather alarming experience.

_ The curse-mark on the back of my neck had been sealed by the Hokage to prevent it from acting up. During the medical exam, the Medical Corps had noted my advanced chakra mastery and been astonished at my Kekkei Genkai. And they also knew of the Sealing jutsu that kept the demon that had torn into the Cloud village confined._

_"Poor kid," I heard a cat-masked ANBU ninja saying as the floor began to come back into focus below me. I had been under the influence of the Time Reversal genjutsu, keeping me calm and putting me into a state of hypnosis so that I could remember details I might not be remember on a whim. "She's been little better than a prisoner all this time."_

_"I can't believe the Cloud ninja –kidnapping a kid," a dog-faced member of the ANBU said._

_"Well?" the Hokage asked. He was standing behind me, blowing out a cloud of pipe-smoke. _

_"Considering everything, it's remarkable she's sane," the cat ANBU said. "We can't access anything beyond her time in the Cloud. It's most likely suppressed memory. There's no way to tell what clan or land she hails from –but it's definitely not the Land of Lightning or Frost."_

_"So what do we do with her, Lord Hokage?" the dog-masked ANBU asked._

And now I was here, awaiting the Hokage's decision. "Megumi –I've never had any reason to doubt your judgement," he said, lowering the paperwork, and pulling the hat from his head. He gave me a gentle smile. "Until her true clan comes to claim her, Hazuki will join the Takeda clan as its daughter, and have a home under the protection of the Leaf shinobi, free to join the ninja ranks when she feels ready."

Delight flooded my heart –I had a new home, a new family, a new village. I was finally free.

My mother led me up to the roof of the building we had been in moments before. From there, we had a view over the entirety of the village. The Land of Fire's Hidden Village's ancient name was Konohagakure. The Hidden Leaf Village sprawled out from the base of a huge mountain to the north; and carved into the rock of the mountain were four faces.

"This is the Hokage Monument, dedicated to the greatest and strongest ninja of their time. Those are the faces of the Hokage." She pointed to the furthest one on the left.

The First Hokage was the one who had founded the village –the first ninja village in the world. His name had been Hashirama Senju, and the likeness on the mountain had a face that was framed with combed-back hair with two single locks hanging loose over his face instead.

The Second Hokage had been the brother of the First, Tobirama Senju. During his reign, he had changed and organized the village into the way it had been running ever since. His portrait high above had shaggy hair and three markings on his face —two under his eyes and one on his chin, with a metal happuri engraved with the Konoha leaf emblem.

"And that is our current Hokage –the Third," Mother said as I studied the image of a man with a goatee and short spiked hair, with a single line running vertically under the outer corners of each eye.

There was one more image –a figure with spiky blond hair that had jaw-length bangs that framed either side of his face. "That is the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze," I was told. "He died saving the village before he could name an heir, leaving the Third to come out of retirement."

As I looked up at the images, I felt a tremor of pride running through me. The Hidden Leaf had a long and rich history. I had not only a new family –I had a new heritage.

I soon found that being adopted into the Takeda clan was not just being adopted into a new family. The Takeda clan was one of the most well-established and prominent families in the Hidden Leaf, renowned weapon-crafters who gave the Hidden Leaf an edge for generations of their family. We were part of a great clan, one that demanded respect and was on good terms with the other noble clans in the village.

The moment I had been declared an official member of the Takeda family, there had been a celebration; the Takeda compound's grounds had been organised for the massive party that came with the celebration. The Takeda and Xa Jing clans were there –the two clans were intertwined closely –as well as members of the other prominent clans. The Takeda were the masters of the clan, running the family and guarding our secrets, while the Xa Jing lived as our branch family, sworn to protect us.

There had been another celebration when I had turned six years old on 3 July–the age at which the Princess was named. This time, there had been other clans there, members of the other noble families in the Hidden Leaf. The Uchiha clan, with its members the inheritors of the Sharingan, were there as well; they were the family that ran the Military Police Force of the village: after all, only strong shinobi were capable of bringing criminals to justice.

I watched as Mother embraced and kissed the cheeks of a woman with long black hair with bangs that framed her face as they ran down either side of her cheeks. The woman was wearing a simple purple blouse and a red-plum skirt.

"I'm so glad that you found a daughter," she was saying. The lady smiled at me, and I ducked behind my mother's side. "Itachi, Sasuke –come here a moment. There's someone you should met."

One of the boys was as tall as the man who was chatting to my father, with dark onyx eyes that held a gentle look in them. His face was framed by bangs of his black hair, some of which he kept in a ponytail, and there were long tear troughs under his eyes. He was wearing a black shirt with the fan emblem that was the symbol of the Uchiha clan on his back, and pants.

"Itachi, you've grown into quite the man," Mother said. The taller boy bowed to her. "Still practicing with your shuriken, I trust."

My gaze rested on the boy beside Itachi. He was about my age, I thought. He had the same black hair and dark eyes as the rest of the Uchiha, wearing a simple black long-sleeved shirt that had a raised collar and sported the Uchiha crest on the back, as well as black shorts and sandals.

"And this must be Sasuke," Mother said, finished her conversation with Itachi and turning to the younger. "So what are your dreams for the future, Sasuke?"

"I want to join the Military Police force, just like my father," Sasuke replied. He was looking over to the man as he said that –but there was no indication that he had even heard his son. "I want to be a splendid ninja, just like Itachi."

Sasuke's mother then turned back to my mother, and the two began discussing plans for our education. Sasuke was due to start at the Ninja Academy next summer; Mother was planning to send me there as well. "I hope you'll have time to make friends with Hazuki," his mother said. Sasuke looked at me, and inclined his head.

The Hyuga clan, with its renowned and powerful eye-based Kekkei Genkai called the Byakugan, were there too. I later learnt that only the members of the main branch of the clan were present.

"Congratulations on finding a suitable heir, Megumi," someone said as he approached. I noticed a man with long flowing black hair and featureless white eyes coming over, wearing traditional long loose-fitting robes under a long-sleeved haori. His expression was stern.

"Thank you, Hiashi," Mother said as I stood beside her, holding onto her hand. "How is Lady Hinata?"

"She is not faring well in her training," the man said, glancing over his shoulder. I followed his gaze to see a girl –again, she looked about my age –with dark blue hair and the same eyes as her father, except I noticed that they had a tinge of lavender to them. Our eyes met, and she gave a small smile. "How is your child faring?"

"I have not begun her training yet –but she already shows some skill," Mother said. She sounded so proud of me.

Being a Takeda was also about far more than being a member of the distinguished clans. To the Takeda, ability and strength were everything. There were high expectations on every member of the family, especially the Princess. I wouldn't inherit the title of Matriarch until I was sixteen _and_ had passed the Chunin exams.

I slunk away from the festivities and into the coolness of the interior of the main house of the complex. I needed a break from being the centre of attention and praise –it wasn't something I was used to.

I knocked gently on the partition that separated one bedroom from the rest of the house. "Mm, come in," someone called from inside. It was the only member of the house who was absent from the celebrations.

I pushed the partition open and stepped inside. The room was light and airy, windows on one side that overlooked the garden –and the party beyond. Its sole occupant was a young woman, with long black hair and doe-brown eyes, dressed in a simple white yukata that had a light-blue butterfly design on the left lapel. Her skin was pale, almost as white as the clothes she wore. Although it was past midday, she was lying on a futon.

"Hazuki, what are you doing here?" she asked. "That party's for you; you ought to be out there enjoying it."

I held out a chain of flowers that I had created during the morning, before the introductions had begun. Tomoha couldn't join in the festivities –she was confined to her bed. She should have been Princess herself –but her health was too frail to allow it. The only room she knew was this one.

The sole reason I was Princess, heiress to the Takeda clan, was because Tomoha was too frail to ever make Chunin. She had a memorabilia of when she had been a Genin –a katana that hung on the wall, the trousers and shirt she had worn while training and going on missions –but that was the only indication that she had ever been healthy and active.

"For you," I said, holding out the flower-chain. Tomoha took it.

"Thank you, Hazuki," she said, smiling gently as she laid it beside her. "You're such a sweet girl."

Then she began to cough and cough –she was coughing so much she started coughing up blood –I pressed the button to call the doctors, calling the medics from standby to my sister's bedside. I left the room. That was why Tomoha was physically incapable of becoming Matriarch, the reason her birth-right had been passed to me.

"I thought I might find you here," I heard someone say, and I looked around. A tall young man appeared around the corner, sword at his back, wearing shin guards, fingerless gloves that reached to the elbow under armoured arm guards. Like Tomoha –actually, like so many of the Takeda clan –he had long black hair that he kept up in a ponytail. His eyes were a bright sea-green. Etsuya was my adopted brother, as well as the Clan Guardsman assigned to protect me. He looked at the closed door, behind which I could still hear Tomoha coughing and wheezing, the medics's comments bouncing off the walls. I could see the sadness in his eyes as he led me away from the room.

To be a Takeda of worth, you had to master kenjutsu and taijutsu. Our training began at the age of six, before we even entered the Academy. From there, you build upon your skills as you moved up the ranks from Genin, to Chunin and to Jonin.

The grounds of the Takeda compound were extensive; the houses of the Takeda and Xa Jing, the forges and storehouses were near the base of the Hogake Monument. Along with those, we had private wide training grounds.

I was in one of those training grounds, sparring with Etsuya. It was already late in August. And I was due to start at the Academy the following September, as a part of the next generation of shinobi hopefuls.

I had already learnt the fundamental basic jutsu of the shinobi –clone jutsu, transformation jutsu, basic escape jutsu, basic shruiken and kunai skills, the simplest taijutsu moves; between them, the Cloud ninja and Toru had taught me well. My control of chakra was well-beyond the level of most Academy students.

Mother and Father had been adamant, though –it was tradition for every child who wanted to be a ninja to go through the Academy before they became real ninja. Besides, it would apparently do me some good to be surrounded by my peers day in and day out, learning with my own age group.

As I sparred with Etsuya, a flock of birds flew from the branches of a towering yew; my gaze shifted to the flock for the briefest of moments; the next movement of my brother's sword was so fluid, so quick, that I didn't see it and certainly didn't have time to counter-act it.

"Your side's open," Etsuya commented –my only warning as the bamboo sword he was using thundered into my side. The end result of a momentary distraction, when I needed all my focus just to keep up with him –I ended up flat on my back and staring up at the clouds. My bamboo sword had been knocked clean out of my hands.

It was obvious I didn't stand a chance against him, even with the hours of practice I put in on a daily routine. I spent hours practicing my thrusts and cuts –as many as I spent pouring over books and scrolls. If there was one thing that I knew, it was that I had no talent for reading and writing –and yet I craved knowledge. The Cloud ninja had only taught me ninjutsu and taijutsu –I hadn't needed to learn strategy or tactics when, in the end, I would simply be following the tactics of others.

And Toru had taught me all the stuff I knew about poisonous plants and trap jutsu by showing them to me, letting me practice and learn through trial and error.

The difference in our powers was obvious, and so were the reasons –he was a Chunin of twenty-one years of age, raised to fight from the same age I was now. I was a child, not even in the Academy yet.

I shouldn't be disappointed in myself, but the simple truth was –I was. I had been raised to kill without hesitation, taught the vital spots of anatomy most vulnerable to attack. And somewhere along the way, I had lost that killer instinct.

I should be able to do better than this.

"You're getting better," Etsuya said, leaning forward to pull me to my feet. "Day by day, I'm seeing you grow."

"I still lose," I say, dusting down my clothes. I'm not wearing my formal clothing –the kimono and hoari have been tucked away into the back of my closet until the next formal occasion. I wear a piqao dress which is mainly black, although it has the flying-hawk emblem of the Takeda on the back as well as a pattern of red and white roses following the zip-line. I wear tight-fitting shorts that reached down to just past my knees underneath them, a shruiken-holster attached to my right hand thigh. I wore fingerless gloves over my hands and had leg warmers over my lower legs and sandals on my feet. My dark-red hair had grown out –I could tie a portion of it back into a short ponytail while layered bangs dangled into my face.

"You possess a sharp mind, great resourcefulness, and the ability to exploit every advantage," Etsuya said. "I don't doubt that, within a year, you will be able to defeat me in combat. And I look forward to that battle."

I left the Takeda compound after lunch, heading out into the village. My feet eventually brought me to the roof of a building with a view out over the village, in the direction of the Hokage Monument. There was no-one else up here, and I sat on a wooden seat under a canopy.

I knew where the other children would be –in the parkland below the main playground, playing kemari –but I didn't want to go down there. I knew exactly what would happen. It had happened before…

_I had been invited to join in several of their games –kemari was just one of them. I enjoyed playing with them. _

_But then, when I had shown up to play one day, everything had changed…_

_We had been picking teams –the first team leader had pointed to me. As I had headed to join him, the other boy who had been picked as the opposing leader had objected._

_"Hey, that's not fair!" he had shouted. "Whatever team Hazuki's on, they always win!"_

_It had gotten worse as the two bucked heads and argued over me. They never even considered how I had felt. In the end, I had simply walked away –if I wasn't there, their arguing would be pointless._

Since then, I had remained on my own. The children who had argued over what team I should be in had not come back. I watched from the distance, the background, but did not seek to get close to others my age again. I doubted I would ever be able to call anyone a true friend.

Friend –the term meant someone that you were emotionally attached to, someone who liked, respected and trusted; and a true friend was supposed to return such sentiments in kind. A friend was someone outside your family who you trusted with everything. I wanted a friend, someone who would understand the real me, who wouldn't shun me or betray me. I wouldn't let them down, and they would do the same for me.

It all sounded great –in theory. But look at what had happened –it had all been a paper-thin façade.

A rustle of feathers made my eyes drift upwards. A bird was passing overhead –and not just any bird. It was a young Great kite, dark plumage tipped with whitish markings along the base of the outer wing feathers. I smiled at the sight –it was Sora. I whistled, and in an instant, the bird arched and turned to me. I held out an arm, and Sora settled upon it.

Sora was a member of the Great Birds –a species of birds that grew to great sizes, and were as intelligent as any human. The Takeda and the Great Birds had had a Summoning Contract for generations –learning to fight alongside the Great Birds was something I had yet to learn. Every child in the Takeda clan was granted a member of the Great Birds upon their sixth birthday –their life-long comrades. And Sora was a mere hatchling –I had seen the size of those Birds that were kept at the Keep, those who flew alongside my family.

I stroked Sora's plumage. I felt lonely –maybe Sora was going to be my only friend. If so… well, I could live with that.

Sora suddenly turned his head, sharp eyes fixing on the stairwell. I looked up, and saw that there were two boys nearing the top of the stairs. I hadn't even heard or seen them approaching.

"We didn't think there'd be anyone up here," the boy nearer the top of the stairs said. He had long jet-black hair that was tied back in a spiky ponytail. I had seen him before, in games of 'Ninja' around the village. "So what are you doing up here?"

"Just…" I paused, not knowing quite what I was trying to stay, "I don't feel like playing with them today."

"Why don't you hang around with us?" the other boy said. He was more robust than his friend, with spiky brown hair and swirl-like markings on his cheeks. "That's OK, right, Shikamaru?"

"Yeah," his companion said in a lazy drawl. He headed towards the bench, and I moved up to make room for them. They both lay back, staring at the skies. "Hey, why don't you lean back and watch the clouds too?"

So I did. I leant back and watched the clouds and shared a packet of potato-chips that the other boy had brought with them. Sora rested on the roof of the canopy, preening his feathers.

"I'm Shikamaru of the Nara clan," one of the boys said as we headed down from the rooftop –I had completely lost track of time, and had barely noticed that the shadows were starting to get longer.

"And I'm Choji of the Akimichi clan," the more robust boy said.

"I'm Hazuki, of the Takeda clan," I replied. Introductions made, we left in different directions for our homes.

Shikamaru and Choji quickly became my friends –and this time, I knew that I had come across the real deal. I was happy with them –and that felt like the most correct way to live.

Everyone noticed –Etsuya wasn't the only one to comment on how cheery and friendly I seemed to be at all times now. My improvement in my swordplay classes went through the roof. I was happy and content, for the first time in my life –and I thought it would never end.


	8. Takeda Tragedy

For those who were following my first draft, I'm sure you'll have noticed by now that I've changed the timings around -I just think it makes things work slightly better

I don't own Naruto, etc... but the OCs are mine.

Read, enjoy and review -the more reviews i get, the more i feel inclined to post -but NO FLAMES, especially in this season!

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><p>The bell rang, signalling the end of afternoon classes. It was October –I had been in the Academy in the village for a month now. I was dedicated to my studies –I wanted to live up to the expectations of my family –but I wasn't about to lose my friendship with Shikamaru and Choji. So I balanced it –being a 'dead-last' with excellent test results. My circle of friends had grown since I had stepped through the class-room doors on the first day, after the Welcoming Day. I had been there with my parents –I had seen members of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans there as well.<p>

Kiba had already darted from the classroom, running off with his dog Akamaru sitting on his head. He was of the Inuzuka clan, with the distinct red-fang markings on each cheek.

And Naruto –he was the class-clown, the prankster of the year. He had blue eyes and blond, spiky hair, but his most characteristic feature was the strange whisker marks on his face. I had found out –only recently –that he was an orphan. And I had another reason for calling him my friend –I had seen the glares the villagers gave him, the looks of disgust and fear. And there was no reason I knew of.

I collected my books, looking down the row below me. Sasuke was still sitting in his place, vehemently studying even though class was over and our sensei was collecting his papers. Despite what my mother and his had wished about us being friends in the Academy and beyond, it hadn't happened. Day after day, the other girls in the class fawned over him. There was nothing he could do wrong. So I kept my distance –I decided that 'Mr. Perfect' would not appreciate a friendship to the extent that Naruto would.

I walked through the streets until I reached the Takeda complex. I pushed open the gates to the main entrance of the Takeda complex and entered the large gardens. Then I stopped –there was something wrong here. It was only early evening –there should have been people around. And it was too quiet –even at the darkest hour of the night, things weren't this still.

"Mother! Father!" I shouted, opening the first door I came to, moving into the house. As I opened the door, something slumped out of the door –a body. I turned the corpse over –it was one of the Xa Jing Guardsmen. His throat had been slashed.

A part of me –the rational part that had been trained to have the instincts of a killer and shinobi –told me to run, to find the ANBU and tell them what was happening on the Takeda comlex; another part –the little girl who had grown to love the only people who had loved me and taken me in –screamed at me to find my parents, my brother, my sister.

Then my training, embedded in me and impossible to shake off, kicked in –I could find them on my own. I took the tanto that the Guardsman had been holding, moving into the house and keeping to the shadows. Someone was here, in the house, completely undetected.

I had no doubt that whoever had entered the house had infiltrated the village –outsiders from beyond our borders entering the village. And since they had targeted the Takeda household, I could guess what they were after –the secrets of the Takeda, the skillset and technique that made the clan renowned sword-smiths as well as the wielders of the blades.

I moved through the compound, until I reached a sliding door that had been left partially ajar. I knew the room beyond –it was where Mother met with the Council, the members of the clan who advised her upon her decisions that affected the rule of the clan.

I moved up, pressing my back against the slightly ajar door; I peered around the door. There were three people inside, none of whom I recognised. They had drawn weapons, all of which dripped with blood. And at their feet-

No! I blinked, trying to alter the vision before me. But it was no good. The image would never change simply because it couldn't. The man and woman on the floor –they were my parents, and they were dead. Sorrow and rage shot through my chest at the exact same moment.

"I can't believe this," one of the men growled. "Why haven't you been able to find those secrets?"

"I was closing in on them, sir," another man spoke. "But the moment they died –the information was blacked out and erased."

I knew what had caused that –the Takeda had woven intricate sealing jutsu to keep their secrets from falling into the wrong hands. There were a multitude of genjutsu mind-blocks, to prevent the information from being read from the mind; and then, as a final safe-guard, there was the Sealing jutsu that activated upon death –it completely wiped the mind clean of any and all techniques that the Takeda had stored within their body.

One day, those same techniques would be woven into me –on the day that I turned sixteen.

The Takeda clan guarded the secrets, while the Xa Jing protected us. That was the way it had worked for generations –and the Guardsmen assigned to my mother and father were all slain. They had given their lives to defend the leader of the clans and her husband.

The first man made a disgusted noise in his throat, turning slightly. I saw the emblem on the forehead protector and recognised it in a heart-beat –these invaders were from the Cloud! The man's lower face was wrapped in bandages, leaving only the upper part visible. My breath caught in my throat as a memory surfaced, replaying as I knew instantly that I recognised him.

_"Your mother died fighting a powerful demon –your father died upon sealing it into you. The monster that attacked the village, that murdered your mother, has taken over your body! You are the demon that killed hundreds here!"_

The words echoed in my mind. And with it came the face that had said those words, dark and flushed with hate. The face belonged to the man standing before me –the face of my uncle…

As I realised that –that I had had a family before the Takeda –I remembered that this man was the one who had kidnapped me to the Hidden Cloud village one night. But that was it –I couldn't remember anyone else from that village, where that village had been, or what it had been called.

"If we don't get this information, then we've failed the mission," Tsurugi snapped. "Try again!"

"It's no good," the third man of the group said. "We're going to have to pull out, sir –otherwise, we compromise our advantage. Someone's going to notice that blood trail sooner or later."

I gathered myself –I wasn't sure whether I should fight or flee, though. I could feel the tears well up but they dried as they reached my cheeks as rage and sorrow battled for control.

Suddenly, from the shadows behind me, a hand clasped tightly over my mouth before another wove around my chest. I fought the panic –I hadn't even heard anyone approach! –and tried to fight my captor as he dragged me backwards.

"Calm down –it's me," my 'captor' hissed in my ear. I recognised the voice –it was Etsuya. Relief –and also dread –flooded through me. Etsuya carried me outside, where he set me down. He looked into my eyes as I turned around –and I saw surprise registering.

"What's wrong?" I ask. He pulls out his sword, moving it so that the light reflects off my eyes. And I see in an instant what he was surprised about –my eyes were no longer the onyx I knew. Instead, they were red with a black pupil, with a black tomoe in each eye.

I had Sharingan, the trademark Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha.

As I floundered with the news, I noticed a flurry of kunai flying towards Etsuya's back. I stepped in front of him, blocking each kunai knife; they thudded useless into the ground.

"So you're here?" Tsurugi said –he had been the one who had thrown the kunai weapons. As I looked up at him, I saw that he had the same Sharingan eyes –although his were different. The black was far more extensive, seemingly in the shape of a three-bladed shuriken. I knew instantly which side of my forgotten family the Sharingan had come from.

"State your name," Etsuya said, turning on him and drawing his sword. He pushed me behind him and I realised –this was his obligation. He had sworn to protect both me and my sister.

"Get out of the way, Takeda," Tsurugi said. His voice was low but laced with malice, and all of it directed at me. "My business isn't with you."

"But sir, we're supposed to…" began one of his sub-ordinates. He didn't get to finish, though –Tsurugi had already slammed a blade through his heart. I was stunned –he was unbelievably ruthless –and glancing up at Etsuya, I could see that seeing a Cloud ninja so heartlessly slaughter one of his own subordinates had shocked him.

The other Cloud ninja seemed to be cowed into silence.

"Now… you have something that belongs to the Hidden Cloud," Tsurugi said, deceptively calm again. "Hand over that harbinger of death."

Harbinger of death… I knew that it meant something –anything –that announced or indicated the approach of a death. Was Tsurugi saying that I was responsible for what had happened here –for his actions? I didn't want to go back –I would never go back to living in that cage. I had been free, happy –and then he had had to show up again! It was so unfair!

"Forget it," Etsuya said –he was holding his ground. "Hazuki's not some monster to be locked up in a cage. I won't let you take one step towards her."

Tsurugi looked Etsuya straight in the eye –and an instant later, Estuya crumpled to his knees. His scream was loud, piercing –the sound of someone in agony. He could do nothing as Tsurugi started forward.

"Release him!" I shouted, seeing my brother's spirit on the verge of breaking. I didn't know what Tsurugi had done, but I knew that it had to be some form of genjutsu. He had Etsuya trapped in his own mind.

"I will –the moment you join me," Tsurugi said, holding out his hand. "Come here, and I will set him free."

I knew in a heartbeat that he was lying. I instantly placed a hand on my brother's shoulder. I knew from class that genjutsu was affected by manipulating the flow of chakra in the victim's brain, causing a disruption in their senses, controlling the mind by affecting one of the five senses. We were taught the basics of genjutsu –what genjutsu actually was, how it was activated, as well as the basics of how to stop it –but that was all.

Instinct told me that there was a way to free Etsuya on my own. I focused my chakra, releasing a burst of chakra into Etsuya's body. My knees buckled –I had just used a lot of chakra. But I knew that it had worked as I felt him draw in a sharp breath before he glanced up to look at me. I saw that he was trembling slightly –but he still managed a thin smile.

Then he grabbed me, reversing our positions. As I fell, I saw Tsurugi was approaching with a bloodied sword raised high; Etsuya had his sword half-way out, moving to protect me.

Then Tsurugi's blow was halted in its tracks, the blade forced into the ground as the intruder was sent flying backwards and into the ground. He managed to right himself, as someone else landed in front of Etsuya and me.

"Itachi!" Etsuya said as Tsurugi managed to right himself. And it was the elder of the Uchiha brothers, wearing the uniform of the ANBU Black Ops, although he wasn't wearing his porclein mask.

"I sent word to the rest of the ANBU that the Takeda compound was being attacked," Itachi Uchiha said, looking over his shoulder at me. In that instant, I saw a bit of surprise when he saw my activated Sharingan. "Until they get here, we'll hold them off. Hazuki –take a rest. Using the Sharingan can be extremely draining when you're not used to them."

"I don't know who you think you are –but you're in my way!" Tsurugi shouted. A moment later, a circular ball of flame was being shot across the garden towards us. Itachi countered it with his own ball of flame, and then sent two shuriken hidden in flames at the invader. One caught Tsurugi across the shoulder.

And I found that I could read the hand signs as they clashed their jutsu against one another. I could distinguish their chakras as well.

"Judging from the fact that you possess Sharingan, you must belong to the Uchiha clan," Itachi said as Tsurugi panted. I couldn't believe it as I watched –Tsurugi, who had been able to completely outmatch my brother, was being forced onto the defensive.

"I am not an Uchiha," Tsurugi spat. "I am of the Tamiko clan!"

"The fact that I can nullify your genjutsu just from making eye-contact means that your clan and mine share an ancient bond," Itachi went on, ignoring Tsurugi's last statement. I could see that the man was getting madder and madder as time went on. "And since Hazuki shares the same eyes as well, she must also be from the Tamiko clan."

"She is not!" Tsurugi protested, sounding furious and disgusted at the very idea. I couldn't follow them anymore as they moved again –the fight was getting more and more vicious. I didn't care that Tsurugi didn't acknowledge me as a member of his clan –and to be honest, I was relieved that I wasn't being directly linked to the man who had destroyed whatever life I had had.

The battle got more intense –it was turning into a contest of Fire Style jutsu. And Itachi was right –I didn't have the chakra reserves to continuously use my Sharingan to keep up with the hand signs.

Etsuya hovered beside me, ever-vigil, ever-ready should Tsurugi try and attack us again. He was able to follow the speed of the battle. I realised that I had never seen two people move so fast. Itachi was a member of the ANBU –he should have had the advantage –but Tsurugi was keeping right up with him. Only a Jonin –an Elite ninja –should be able to move that fast.

Suddenly, the house erupted into flames. And they were no ordinary flames –these were dark and felt much more powerful –much darker. My thoughts jumped to the one person who might still be alive, trapped inside. Tomoha was in there!

"Don't –it's not safe!" Etsuya shouted, grabbing my arm as I tried to bolt into the burning house. The battle was still raging, although it looked as though Tsurugi was getting more and more desperate. I could see blood on his right cheek, seemingly streaming from his eye.

"Tomoha's in there!" I shouted back, pulling out of my brother's grip, and through the smouldering remains of the door. I covered my mouth with my hand as the smoke hit my lungs, coughing slightly before I forced myself on. The entire house was crackling and burning, being devoured by these flames. It didn't matter –my only thought was on saving another, even if it cost my life.

Tomoha's room was not alight as I wrenched the door open, although I could barely see through the smoke. Tomoha was sitting up, one sleeve covering her mouth as she fought not to breath in the smoke. I dropped to her side –that was when I realised the biggest problem in my strategy –Tomoha was too heavy for me to lift or pull, and I wasn't being rude.

"You are a real handful," I heard someone say from behind me. It was Etsuya –he picked Tomoha up like a bride, clambering out the window as the flames finally licked their way into the room. I followed him out and back into the gardens. The house was completely engulfed in flames now.

Itachi approached –there was no sign of Tsurugi. Itachi's eyes were changing from the piercing red of the Sharingan back to deep oynx. I could see that the third intruder –the one that Tsurugi hadn't murdered –was bound in ropes, held by two porcelain-masked ANBU.

"Itachi –where's…" Etsuya began.

"He fled," Itachi replied. "Using Amaterasu seemed to have been his final effort to end the fight –his right eye was bleeding from overuse."

"Will he come back?" Etsuya asked, tightening his hold on Tomoha, glancing down at me.

"I doubt it," Itachi said. "We'll send word to the Raikage as well, let him know that we know he's trying to steal our secrets. That will make him back off."

The yard was beginning to fill with people. Itachi directed some of them to seal the flames of Amaterasu; members of the Xa Jing began to arrive, staring at the burnt-down remains of the Takeda house.

I allowed a Xa Jing to treat the slight burn that I had gotten in the house; I watched silently as Tomoha sobbed and Etsuya did his best to comfort her. But his expression was grim –we had lost our parents, the Takeda clan had been destroyed even though its secrets remained safe. It was going to take years before a Takeda ruled again.

I couldn't help feeling guilty –as though I had brought about the collapse of the clan just from being here, for being the target of Tsurugi's wrath. Maybe he hadn't known before –but he did now. And word was sure to trickle back to the Raikage –A may not try a head-on approach to recapture me, but he had other means of getting me if he wanted.

Now I was faced with a bleak future –as well as a destroyed clan.

My gaze hardened –I was going to ensure the Takeda clan recovered and flourished anew; and I was going to take my revenge for the loss of my parents out on the man who had attacked our home, even if I had to hunt for him my entire life.


	9. Graduation

I don't own Naruto etc, but the OCs are mine

So read, enjoy, post reviews -but no flames are tolerated

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><p>I secured my new forehead protector around my forehead, making sure that it was tied correctly. I was ten years old –and I had passed my Graduation exam for the first time. Starting today, I was a shinobi of the Leaf.<p>

I double-checked what I was wearing –I had replaced the piqao dress I had worn as a child with a white shirt with loose sleeves that flowed over my palms, obscuring the fingerless gloves that had armour plating that ran up to the elbows. The shirt was emblazoned with the crest of the Takeda clan on the back and right sleeve. I wore cropped trousers with cords pulling the ends to my legs. I had bandages wrapped around my lower legs.

I had grown my hair long, braiding it down my back.

So much had happened in the village –my clan had been decimated; and then the Uchiha clan had been destroyed from within. I hadn't been able to believe it when I had heard what had happened –Itachi had killed every member of his family, apart from Sasuke. Ever since that day, Etsuya acted as though he didn't even exist.

Sasuke had changed so much it was scary. When he had returned from the hospital, he had been even more withdrawn –darker, colder. He had glared at everyone, and yet it had seemed as though he wasn't looking at them, but someone beyond them. Naruto was always competing with him, always chasing the genius.

I hadn't forgotten my own desire –to find and eliminate Tsurugi for what he had done to my family –but I wasn't going to let it change me that much.

"Hazuki! Tenten's waiting for you!" Etsuya shouted up the stairs. Our old complex was still in a state of constant repairs, so we had moved into a recently-renovated townhouse. Our weapon-store had survived untouched, and the falcon-house where the Great Birds roosted was fine –our security had been downsized and become more discreet.

Tenten was of the Xa Jing clan, a fellow student and graduate in the Academy. She was twelve years old –there were a good solid couple of years between us. She was wearing a pink sleeveless blouse and dark green pants; she had her hair in Chinese-style buns on either side of her head with short fringe-bangs falling over her forehead protector. We had been friends for years –ever since I had been adopted into the Takeda clan.

"So who do you think you'll have on your squad?" she asked as we headed to the classroom for the final time. She was excited about this.

As for me, it was still sinking in –I wasn't a little kid anymore; I was a Genin, a kunoichi in training. I couldn't wait until I was out on missions as part of a squad –I just didn't show it like Tenten did.

"I dunno," I said, and I meant it. I didn't know who I wanted on my squad, but there was one person I knew I didn't want to be partnered with. If there was anyone I found even more annoying that Sasuke, it was Neji Hyuga.

We got to the classroom a few minutes before noon –the designated time when we would be sorted into squads, and from there met our Jonin sensei. The room was filled with twenty-seven recently graduated Genin, all sporting the same forehead protector. The room was filled with excited chatter; I took my place and pulled out the book I had been reading for the past few days.

"Alright, I want your attention at the front," the instructor called out. "First of all… I want to say congratulations to all of you for making the rank of Genin. Now, before we hand you over to your Jonin instructors, there is one final thing to be done. And that is to divide you into squads of three. We have tried to create a balance –a mix of abilities and levels –in each squad, so that's how we set the squads up. Now listen carefully."

He started reading from the checklist. I glanced behind me, up to the central top level. Neji was sitting beside Tenten and a brown-haired boy, eyes fixed determinedly on the teacher. I was fine with any squad, as long as I wasn't put in the same group as Neji. I couldn't stand the way he had gone on and on about fate. My fists clenched at the mere memory of what he had said when he had beaten me in taijutsu finals –_"You will never be able to defeat me; the outcome of this test was determined by fate the moment I was chosen as your opponent." _

One day, sooner or later, I was going to make him eat those words.

I scoffed at the mere idea that 'fate can't be altered' –if that were true, then I wouldn't have been here today. I would still have been stuck in that cage if I hadn't decided to take my future in both hands and change it around for the better. I was the complete opposite to Neji's fatalist take on the world.

"Squad 5 –Neji Hyuga, Tenten Xa Jing and Rock Lee," the instructor said. I breathed a small sigh of relief. Someone must have been listening to my wish from above. And Tenten would be happy –she was part of the squad that had the number-one ninja in it.

"Squad 6 –Hazuki Takeda, Osamu Kurama and Kai Mizumaki," the instructor said next. I looked around for my team-mates.

Kai Mizumaki wasn't too difficult to spot –he had ash-blond hair that hung loose around his shoulders, wearing a pair of light trousers and a blue top. His lower legs were bandaged, and he had arm-warmers on both lower arms. He came from a clan of Water Style specialists, but was otherwise unremarkable. He got average grades, and was good at both ninjutsu and taijutsu. He had graduated the year before, but for some reason had been booted back into the Academy.

My other team-mate was sitting a row in front of me, with his brown hair tied up in a ponytail and glasses perched on his nose. He was pale –maybe due to the fact that he spend many hours inside, feverishly studying. He was a member of the Kurama clan –extremely skilled genjutsu masters, although none had been born with their Kekkei Genkai for a while. They had once been a prominent clan, but their influence and numbers were beginning to fade. Still, there was evidence that Osamu might become a genjutsu-style fighter –he had extremely advanced chakra control and a sharp mind. But his other skills were slightly rusty and forced.

Then the final squad was announced, and then we were left on our own until after lunch. That would be when our new sensei would come and introduce themselves.

"Hey," I heard someone say as I gathered my things together. I looked up to see Kai standing over me. "I think we should go out for lunch –the three of us. I think there's something I should tell you and Osamu."

We took lunch in a dumpling shop.

"So what was it you wanted to talk to us about, Kai?" Osamu asked, munching on a dumpling.

"You probably know that I was booted back to the Academy," Kai said. "It wasn't because I messed up on the mission –it was because I failed the final test."

"What final test?" I asked. "We've graduated already."

"That's what I thought too," Kai replied. "But that whole exam –all they were doing was picking graduates who might become Genin. There's still one more test –one that only nine students can pass."

Only three teams were going to be allowed to graduate? That hardly seemed fair. Still, we had to take Kai's word on it.

"We can't afford to let whoever our sensei is know that we know all this," I commented. "Let's see what happens when we met him. Then we can come up with a strategy."


	10. Key to Success

And here's the next chap! This is as far as I have gotten, so apologies, but it will be a while before the next chap is up.

I don't own Naruto, etc

Read, enjoy and review.

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><p>Our sensei arrived about fifteen minutes after the rest of the groups had left with their new mentors. I doubted any of them realised just what was awaiting them –even though I knew, I wondered whether we would be able to survive this.<p>

My fists clenched –I couldn't afford any set-backs. The man who had decimated my clan, destroyed any chance I might have once had for a normal life, was still out there. I had to get stronger if I was ever to stand a chance of getting revenge. This had been a personal thing once –now it was far more than that.

Our new sensei was a man with dull black hair tied back in a ponytail entered the room; he had a scar on the right side of his face, carrying a katana horizontally to his back.

"I am Hayama Shirakumo," he said, sitting on the rim of the teacher's stand opposite us. "You can call me Hayama-sensei. So why don't you three introduce yourselves –tell us all your names, goals, things like that."

"I am Osamu Kurama," Osamu said, speaking up first. "I want to prove my value to the world even though I do not have my family's Kekkei Genkai."

The Kurama clan was one of the noble clans of Konoha, but they had steadily been losing influence for several generations. Every few generations, a member of the Kurama clan was born with their genjutsu-based Kekkai Genkai and the ability to make their victim believe that anything that happened to them physically affected their body. This fearsome ability allows the clan member to potentially kill their opponents with nothing but genjutsu.

"I'm Kai Ishikawa," Kai said. "I'm going to master every ninjutsu I can –then no one will be able to call me an embarrassment to the clan anymore."

Kai was the youngest of his family, and all of his older siblings had been Chunin and Jonin for several years. He just didn't have the natural ability of the rest of the clan. But he had put everything into his work, and his enthusiasm couldn't be dampened –I couldn't fault him for that.

"And I'm Hazuki Takeda," I said. "And I am going to restore the Takeda clan to its former glory, and I plan to make the man who destroyed it pay for his crimes."

"OK, so you all have different goals that you want to chase," Shirakumo said. "There's one thing I should tell you three. You've passed the graduation exam, but there is one final test before you gain the right to really be called a Leaf shinobi. You have to complete my test first. Only three squads are allowed to call themselves shinobi –the rest go back to the Academy."

The three of us shared a look –so Kai had been right. We were being plunged into a make-or-break final test, and the odds that we would make it were stacked against us.

"Met me at Practice Field 17 tomorrow morning at eight o'clock," Hayama-sensei told us. "Bring your ninja tool-kits –oh, and you might want to consider skipping breakfast unless you want to lose it."

He disappeared with a Body Flicker technique and a cloud of smoke, leaving the three of us behind. I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was half-four, and I had kenjutsu practice in half an hour.

We arranged to meet at the sweet and tea soup on the main street to discuss strategy at seven.

It was eight in the morning as I walked through the streets in the early morning light. I had my ninja tools secured in a beige pouch on my lower back, a couple of scrolls attached to my left thigh, and my katana strapped to my back.

As I headed for the practice field, I went over what we had decided the night before. Kai and Osamu had both decided that the fact I had gotten the highest results in Strategy classes was reason enough to make me leader, even temporarily. I guess we were about to find out how much test results mattered in reality.

Practice Field 17 was about twenty-five minutes away from the main part of the village and cut into two by a river, a cleared area in the middle and surrounded by trees.

I was first to arrive in the middle of the clearing, and pulled a scroll out of the holder on my leg. I began sketching a rough outline of the terrain, making note of the location of the river and tree-line. It was more for my benefit than anyone else's so I replaced them as I saw Kai and Osamu arrive.

"Hey, Hazuki!" Kai said.

We didn't have long before Hayama-sensei arrived.

"Alright, I see no point in beating around the bush," Hayama-sensei said. He reached into his weapon pouch and pulled out two scrolls that looked exactly the same. "The rules of this are quite simple: the two of you with these scrolls by noon will pass. The one who flunks out is weeded out and sent back to the Academy. Of course, there is also a chance that all three of you hit rock-bottom, in which case you all get sent back to the Academy."

"But there's only two scrolls, and there's three of us," Kai commented. I had to admit it –it was pretty brilliant. By pitting us against each other, we'd forget about working together as we focused on individual ambition –which would mean none of us would get anywhere near a scroll.

"Not my problem –those are the rules," Hayama-sensei said. "You can use any techniques you like, and any weapons including shruiken. If you're not prepared to kill me, then you won't get the bells."

"Now, if you're ready…begin."

He vanished from view as he used the Body Flicker technique.

"Where'd he go?" Kai asked. I noticed his fists clenching at his sides as we looked around for the Jonin. "That's it –I'm going to find him!"

"Wait!" I shouted, grabbing his arm. "We have to work together, otherwise we don't stand a chance against a Jonin."

"Oh… yeah, guess I forgot," Kai said. He took a deep breath, calming down. "OK, what do we do?"

I formed an idea of the resources at our disposal –Kai was brash and impulsive, but he was almost as good at taijutsu as I was. Osamu was a master of chakra control, and I had a variety of both ranged and close-combat skills.

Mapping out a strategy took us fifteen minutes. We spread out, dashing through the trees but keeping in formation while we searched for the Jonin. After running around for about half an hour, we finally found him leaning up against a tree. When he saw us, he pulled a stop-watch out of his pocket. "Not bad. So, are you ready for your first lesson?"

We didn't have a chance to even respond or brace ourselves –he moved so smoothly and effortlessly that we missed the movement in the blink of an eye. His palm slammed even into my chest, throwing me off my feet. As I flew through the air, I wrestled a kunai out of my hip pocket and released it. He easily dodged it and it sunk into the bark of a tree moments before I collided with an unforgiving trunk.

I blinked stars out of my eyes to see him easily pounding the hell out of Kai and Osamu. I slowly pulled my feet, drawing a deep breath into my lungs. I send chakra throughout my body, deep into my nerves and muscles. It was one of the simplest techniques in the Takeda arsenal –it was a way to maintain my calm and focused state in battle, and to enable us to make more accurate strikes. It was called Kokyuu (1), and it had been taught to me as a mediatory method. I had never thought that I would be using it in an actual combat situation.

I sprang forward to rejoin the combat –Osamu was knocked onto his backside as I joined the battle. If Hayama-sensei wanted this to be a round of taijutsu, I would show him what set the Takeda aside from the average shinobi.

I pushed off from the tree-truck and brought my kunai up to guard against one that was in his hands. Kai and Osamu raced in, coming from his blindsides, and I noticed Hayama-sensei's attention pivot away from me for a brief instance. In that moment, I pivoted, moving away from the kunai and under his guard. My hand reached for one of the scrolls that he had hung on his waist with string. My hand closed around one, and my kunai slashed through the string.

"Yes!" Kai shouted, noticing that the first of two scrolls was in my hand. "Let's finish this!" He threw a shuriken at Hayama-sensei. I was expecting him to dodge –he must have seen that one coming a mile away –but the shuriken embedded itself in his chest, sending him flying. Kai looked horrified –I don't think any of us had seen that coming, and he hadn't been expecting one shuriken to hit so hard.

As Hayama-sensei hit the ground, there was a puff of smoke and the shuriken was embedded in a log rather than a person. Of course –Substitution Jutsu! He had waited until the last moment to switch places with a log so that our eyes were fooled by an optical illusion into thinking we had hit him. And he had done it so flawlessly and effortlessly.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Sword," we heard from behind us. We turned around to see that Hayama-sensei had his sword drawn and felt the wind pressure from the swing of his sword increase. In fact, the force of the wind became so great we couldn't stand and were bowelled over like skittles. We ended up on our backs (or face-down in the dirt in Kai's case) several hundred metres from where we had started.

"Was that ninjutsu?" Osamu asked as he pushed himself up.

"At least we're half-way there," Kai said. I looked at my watch –it was half-nine in the morning. But something told me it was just going to get harder from here on in –I wasn't going to take him by surprise with E-level techniques anymore. I look at the single scroll in my hand.

"We got this because we all worked as a unit," I said. "But now…"

Petals suddenly surrounded us in a tornado, and I looked around in surprise. Osamu and Kai were suddenly gone. But I could have sworn I felt something…

I heard footsteps from behind me, and I swung around to see…no…no! It couldn't be… it wasn't possible.

But the figure of the man was unmistakeable. The Sharingan fixed on me was cold and dark, blood splattered his face and clothes. As he moved towards me, it felt like I was suffocating. I dropped to both knees –it felt as though there was a hand wrapped completely around my throat, but I was unable to even lift my arms.

_Osamu…Kai… where were they?_ But as soon as the thought formed, I banished it. I had already lost too many and too much to this man –I wasn't about to lose another two.

A hand landed on my shoulder –the figure began to swim and shift as though made out of smoke that was dispersing. _What the…don't tell me that whole thing had been genjutsu_! I landed on all fours, gasping deeply and feeling myself on the verge of tears. That had been too realistic for me.

"Hazuki, are you alright?" I heard Osamu ask. He was kneeling beside me as I fought to keep the bile and the tears inside.

"I am now, thanks to you," I said, drawing a deep breath. There was no sign of Kai. "Where's Kai?"

"I take it you got a vision of your worst fear," Osamu said.

"I'd rather not talk about it," I say. Osamu nods in understanding. "So how'd you get free so easy?" I ask him.

"I could tell it was a genjutsu from the first moment –one of the first things any member of the Kurama clan is taught is how to repel a genjutsu if we get trapped in one. I broke free before my worst fear even had a chance to raise its head, but by that time, I'd lost track of Kai," Osamu says. "I came for you first –I think you might have had it the hardest."

"OK, let's go find Kai," I say. I check my watch –I had been trapped in that illusion for ten minutes.

The two of us jumped into the branches of the trees and set off looking for our missing team-member.

"So, once we find Kai, we're going to find Hayama-sensei as well," Osamu said. "Any ideas?"

Finding a way to outwit a Jonin now was going to be a tall order –he had seen some of our jutsu, knew all the basics we had been taught before graduating for this test, and he had an advanced set of jutsu to counter anything we might come up with. Being the highest level of ninja and with presumably decades of experience under his belt gave him even more of an unfair advantage.

I kept calm –this was actually far from over. I still had two Kekkei Genkai under my belt, and Osamu had broken through his genjutsu as though it had been melted butter.

"Someone's coming," Osamu said, and we pulled to a stop, pulling out our kunai. We were expecting Hayama-sensei, so when Kai landed on the branches ahead, we were surprised.

"Hi, guys, what took you so long?" he said cheerily, waving a hand.

"Man, we were worried!" Osamu said, putting his kunai away.

"Hayama-sensei used the genjutsu to capture me, but I managed to escape," Kai said.

"How did you escape?" I asked. I felt that there was something off about this whole thing, but I couldn't quite place it; nevertheless, I remained on-guard.

"It was simple –I used the escape jutsu. I didn't get the best scores in it for nothing," Kai said. That was a bone-faced lie –Kai had only ever gotten average grades. The top two had always been Neji and I, although who got the higher mark varied from one class to another.

I couldn't believe a Jonin would make such a mistake with his facts –surely he had researched us more thoroughly than that. Regardless, I threw the kunai I had been holding at him. He blocked it –but it wasn't a Kai-style move. Even Osamu noticed the difference in style, and we sprang back several feet, on guard.

"I have to admit I wasn't expecting you to figure it out so soon," the imposter said. A puff of smoke cleared to reveal Hayame-sensei. "What was it that gave me away?"

"The fact that Kai didn't get top grades in the Academy," Osamu said –brutal, but true.

"There was also the fact that when you moved to block that kunai, you blocked it was you did in the clearing," I added. "Kai could never have been that smooth."

"Impressive," Hayama-sensei said. "So what now?"

He held up the scroll –our target. "You can either come after this, or you can go and get your friend."

Nice try –he was trying to veer us away from our team-mate, trying to make us abandon a team-member and weaken our own strength. I shared a glance with Osamu –he nodded to show that he had come to the same conclusion that I had. I could imagine that Kai would have made the opposite choice.

We ran; we found Kai tied up to the trunk of a tree, looking really perturbed as we jumped down from the heights.

"Hayama-sensei used the genjutsu to tie me up!" he shouted as I cut him free. I clamped a hand over his mouth –I could sense Hayama-sensei coming towards us. I motioned for the others to split and take cover. They dived into two separate bushes, while I sprung back into the uttermost top branches of a tree. Moments later, Hayama-sensei came to a stop near the base of the tree.

"Well, at least you lot know how to hide well," Hayama-sensei said, speaking to the general vicinity. He must be able to sense the boys' presence –I had been trained so long that concealing my presence was second-nature to me. "It's one of the cardinal rules after all –a ninja must learn how to hide and conceal his movements. But now what do you do? You've spent too long running around. You only have a little over an hour left. And while we're on the subject of that…"

I couldn't see what he was doing, but I caught the flickering of his hands, even though I was behind him –he was preparing a ninjutsu! It made sense –so far, he had subjected us to a taste of taijutsu, genjutsu, even a little of how excellently he welded ninjutsu with kenjutsu.

I closed my eyes, focusing my chakra into my eyes as I removed my headband and signalled for Kai and Osamu to relocate. They did so, jumping into trees. Hayama-sensei stopped his hand signs without releasing the chakra that he had been building up. We retreated thicker into the forest.

"Now what?" Kai asked. And then he saw my eyes, the Sharingan had spread to both of my eyes. "You have Sharingan?"

"I thought only the Uchiha clan had the Sharingan," Osamu said.

"It's difficult to explain –I can't remember my family," I tell them. "But the way I heard it, one of my parents can from a branch of the Uchiha that broke away and changed their name to Tamiko. I figure that's where it comes from."

"So you can read Hayama-sensei's hand signs and movements?" Kai asks, and I nod. Sure, I could follow them, but he was so much faster that having Sharingan was not a guaranteed method to stop him.

My only hope was the jutsu Itachi had taught me before he had defected. He had been the only Uchiha to care that I had Sharingan, the only one who would teach me. And on the morning after he had left, I had found a set of scrolls on my window sill. They were scrolls on the Sharingan. Of course, I had hidden them away.

"I've got a technique we can use to distract his attention," I say. "While he's focused on me, use the opening to go for the last scroll. If both of you tackle him at once, and come from behind, we should have a good chance. Remember, this is our last shot."

Kai and Osamu nodded as I outlined the plan in slightly more detail. After that, we split up. We found Hayama-sensei in the same place as before, just leaning against a tree. I checked the others were in position before I jumped out of my tree and landed in front of Hayama-sensei.

"I was wondering when you were going to stop scurrying around like rabbits," Hayama-sensei said, straightening up. "I was starting to get bored."

"I'm not like the others," I say as I blink, allowing the Sharingan to activate before I build chakra up in my chest this time. My hands began to move…horse, snake, ram…

"That's impossible!" I heard Hayama-sensei say. I knew it was unlikely, that I was using up reserves of chakra no Genin should have –but I was no ordinary Genin. I had additional reserves from my navel, although there was a limit to how much I could use before I reached the point at which I risked letting the thing inside me out.

Monkey, boar, horse, tiger… "Fire Style, Fireball Jutsu!"

I expelled the chakra I had kneaded within by body, not bothering to shape it and letting it become a flamethrower-style attack that covered a wide area. The flames engulfed Hayama-sensei, and I panted as I waited for the flames to die down.

As the jutsu died down, I saw the hole in the singed ground, but no sign of the Jonin. The hair on the back of my neck twisted, and I turned to see our sensei standing a couple of metres away.

"Not too bad –you are different from the others, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're better," he said. Good –he obviously hadn't picked up on Kai and Osamu's alert readiness. I ran at him, jumping and aiming a kick at his head, but the Jonin was fast, and caught my ankle with one hand, stopping me inches from getting the hit. I swung with my right fist, twisted to strike with my foot from another angle –both blows were caught effortlessly. Still, he had all of his hands tied up now; I had one free arm and two comrades who lost no time in leaping from their hiding places and charging.

Hayama-sensei saw them coming, realised our plan… next thing I knew, I was pinned on the ground, his knee in my lower back and kunai against my throat. Kai and Osamu skidded to a halt.

As we were locked in a stare-down, a bell rang. We looked around to see an alarm-clock set at the foot of the tree, its hands showing that it was noon exactly.

"Alright, the test is over," Hayama-sensei said. That left a bitter taste in my mouth –all that time, all our planning…wasted in the last seconds –even as he released me and turned off the alarm. "What are you so glum about, you three?"

"We just failed," Osamu said. To our aggravation, Hayama-sensei began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Kai snapped, back to his usual self.

"It's been a long time since even one scroll has been taken from me," Hayama-sensei said. "You don't think like a bunch of little kids, always vying for personal attention –you're a new squad, and you came close –very close –to securing both scrolls. So…you pass."

"Huh?" Kai said.

"But sensei, if this was a real mission, we would have failed it," I said.

"That's why this is a practice session," Hayama-sensei said. "Tell me, did you even stop to think about why we put you through this test –you must have done since you performed so flawlessly together? What is the point of a three-man squad? Why do you think I tried to pit you against each other?"

"It's teaching us about teamwork, isn't it, Hayama-sensei?" I said.

"Exactly," Hamaya-sensei said. "A ninja squad must put the success of a mission above everything else. A group that argues and fights each other while on a mission is one that is slated to fail. That is the reason that so many in the Academy fail this final test –they think about proving themselves, not about the team. Teamwork is also the reason we make teams of three, and the reason there is a balance of skills in a group.

"You have passed –from now on you three are officially my students. And we should head back before your families start worrying."

We left the clearing together with Hayama-sensei. He took us out to lunch at the barbarque restaurant to celebrate. It was starting to sink in as I headed through the streets –I was now truly a kunoichi in training.

Hayama-sensei arranged for us to meet at the entrance of the building where our missions were distributed the following morning. Something told me that the last easy day of my life had just passed me by. Our first mission was tomorrow, and there was a lot of training ahead of us all.

Still… I briefly wished that I could see B again, even for an instant, so that I could tell him that I had found someone I wanted to defend, that I had a place where I belonged.

(1) Breath


	11. C-Ranked Mission

I do not own Naruto, etc.

Welcome back. This Chapter begins the VERY short Arc that I like to call the Awaking the Demon Arc.

Please read and enjoy, and don't forget to review. I like criticism, but no FLAMES!

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><p>It had been six months since I had graduated with Kai and Osamu and we had become a real Genin squad. Over the course of that time, we had been training or doing small time D-Ranked missions as we worked on the basics and improved our teamwork. And that was what we were doing right now.<p>

I was kneeling in the cover of a bush; peering through the leaves, I could make out our target. It had taken us quite a few hours to track it even this far –for some reason, the mark was as fast as lightning. But it had stopped for now –this was our best chance to capture it.

I pressed the mike on my wireless radio.

"I'm in position," I say. Moments later, my team-mates have reported in as well. The trap is sprung as Osamu and Kai spring from the bushes ahead, to my right and left. The mark is startled and makes a bee-line for the only escape route left open –right at me, and exactly as I had planned. At the last moment, as it is about to leap over my head, my hands shoot out and grabbed it.

The tabby cat meows loudly before settling for sulking in my arms.

"Tabby cat with a red ribbon on her right ear," Osamu said. "That's definitely Tora."

"Hayama-sensei, we have Tora in custody," I said into the radio.

"Good work –now bring her in," Hayama-sensei said over the radio.

We had been chasing the tabby cat for over an hour –it was almost as though the cat had run off before. It was as though she had experience of running from ninja. We took the cat back to the Hokage building where Hayama-sensei was waiting for us. He was expecting us to be able to handle this on our own –as though tracking down a lost cat was that simple when you considered the size of the village.

When we got back, we found the client waiting for us. The Fire Lord's wife began to squeeze the life out of Tora as soon as we handed the cat over. Watching, I could understand why Tora had run away in the first place.

"Alright, for your next assignment, we have several requests," the Third Hokage said from where he was sitting at the long table with other elders of the village. He was puffing on his pipe while he read through the list of missions that had come into the village. "Let's see... babysitting the First Minister's two-year-old, helping with the harvest in a neighbouring farm, walking the dogs of..."

"Time out!" Kai said. I looked at my team-mate –out of the three of us, I had learnt that Kai was the more hot-headed of us. He wasn't as bad as Naruto could be, but he still had an annoying habit of leaping before looking. "All we've been doing is D-Rank! They're not even real missions! Why can't you give us something more challenging?"

He had a point –I was getting tired of routinely doing missions that a trained monkey would be able to do. OK, I got the point that D-Ranks were there to build up our experience, but it had been nothing but D-Ranked missions for six whole months.

"Well, Hayame? Are they ready?" the Hogake asked our sensei for his opinion. Kai was looking pleadingly at him –if he made his eyes any bigger, then he would be making puppy-eyes at our sensei.

"I wouldn't say no," Hayame-sensei said. "They are further ahead in their training than I had envisioned at this point. Maybe a little risk would be a good test for them."

"Very well," the Hogake said, putting the D-Rank scroll to one side and pulling open one that had C written around the middle. "Let's see... we've been meaning to send a squad to patrol the north-eastern borders of the Land of Fire."

"Patrol duty?" Kai asked, sounding a little disappointed. I elbowed him. "Ow... Hazuki was that for?"

"Patrol duty ensures that our borders are safe and demonstrates that the Hidden Leaf is still powerful," I told him. "It's pretty important work."

"How long will this mission take? Osamu asked as we left the room and Hayama-sensei opened to scroll to check the details.

"Probably a couple of weeks –most of that will be travelling. Our route will start at the Valley of the End and we will meet up with the relief team at the coast a couple of weeks later," Hayama-sensei told us. "There will be dozen of chances to continue your training. So are there any other questions?"

We all shook our heads.

"Good. Now go and pack. I'll expect to see you at the gates at six tomorrow morning, ready to leave."

With that, we left the room and headed towards our separate family homes. I began packing immediately after dinner, gathering together supplies that I would need. I packed dried and canned foodstuffs along with ninja tools and scrolls of jutsu that I was currently studying.

As I closed my knapsack, content that I had everything that I needed for survival and travelling as well as combat tools, there was a rap on my bedroom door. "Hazuki, are you there?" It was Etsuya.

"Yeah –come in," I responded. Etsuya entered the room, holding something that was wrapped in a white cloth. I noticed that he was wearing the work-clothes of someone who had been in the Takeda forge all day. He looked around and saw my prepared knapsack and ninja toolkit.

"Do you have a mission?" he commented.

"Yeah –we're going to patrol the northern borders," I responded. "We should only be gone for a couple of weeks."

"Well, it seems like an appropriate time to give you this," he commented, holding out the cloth. I took it, pulling the cloth apart. Within the wrappings was a sheathed katana, the name Takeda emblazoned in gold lettering upon the black sheath. I knew what it was even though I had never had held one before. It was the secret of our clan, the weapons that we forged. And I was holding the end product within my hands. "It's a blade from the forge. You just have to channel your chakra into it."

"Thanks," I responded. I would be taking two katana –this one and my regular one.

"Good luck on your mission," Etsuya told me as he left the room. "Be careful."

After a few hours of sleep, it was five in the morning. I clambered out of bed and pulled on my mesh armour and cropped trousers. Then I pulled on the cropped top emblazoned with the Takeda hawk emblem on the back and wound bandages around my legs, wrists and upper arms. I secured my swords at my back in an X-style sheath that held two swords before shrugging on my backpack and the kit full of ninja tools. Then I slipped out of my bedroom, padding across the wooden floors towards the door and gate that led out to the street, wanting to leave without attracting attention from my still-sleeping family.

"Hazuki, I hope you're not trying to sneak out without breakfast!" I heard Tenten's voice. What was she doing up so early? She was in the kitchen, standing at the door. "Estuya told me that you have a mission."

"I don't have time to stop and eat," I commented. It was half-five, and we were due to leave at six. That left me only a half-hour to get some light exercise before we left the village. Tenten tossed me a sausage wrapped in a roll, the meat piping hot.

"I was about to head out on my own mission," Tenten said. As she said it, I noticed that she had a pack sitting nearby the door. She picked it up, holding a similar sausage roll in her hands. "We're about to go on an escort run! I'm so excited!"

So her team was doing a C-Rank as well.

"Sounds like we'll have to exchange stories when we get back," I responded as we left the house together, munching on the food as we headed in the same direction. As we approached, I noticed that my sensei was exchanging words with Guy-sensei who headed Tenten's team. Great... we just had to be at the same gate as Neji.

Guy-sensei's team left ahead of ours –Kai was running a little late. A few minutes later, Kai appeared at a run. And we set out. This was a simple C-Rank mission. It shouldn't be difficult –we were just heading out there to make a show of military strength.


	12. First Strike

I don't own Naruto

Please read and enjoy, and don't forget to review! Believe it!

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><p>The first week was relatively peaceful –we set up lines of traps as we went, looking for signs of enemies in the area as we went, eating around a campfire before slumbering around it. It was a peaceful mission, as we followed the river that flower through the Valley of the End upstream.<p>

Then we neared the border to the Land of Frost –that was the land that I had been rescued from a man who had manipulated me by a woman who was now dead. That was the land where I had hidden after escaping from the Hidden Cloud –beyond those borders were that hidden village of ninja.

Maybe it was just paranoia talking from being so close to the border of that land, so close to the place where I had memories of harsh times, but I felt uneasy.

It was night, and I was wrapped up in a blanket, huddled beside the campfire. I was having a hard time sleeping, although we had been practicing sparring using our jutsu –I should be wiped out from exhaustion, trying to replenish my chakra. But I just couldn't doze off –great, now Kai had begun to snore.

I pushed back the blanket, getting silently to my feet. I slipped through the trees, following the noise of the creek that we had camped near. I knelt down and splashed my face with cold water. As I straightened, I realised that there was something wrong. And now I knew what.

Apart from the sound of the stream, there was nothing –no sounds. I looked to the east –there was a faint blossom of light. It was early morning –very early morning. That meant that I should be hearing the chatter of birds from the trees. But there was nothing but an unnerving silence.

I headed back to the camp, alert for anything that might hint at an enemy presence. I remained on guard the rest of that night, even though Hayama-sensei had taken over guard duty for the rest of the night.

The next day, my senses remained at high alert throughout the next day. Kai and Osamu didn't seem to have noticed anything out of the ordinary as we continued laying traps –Hayama-sensei continued to scan the surrounding area from great heights, but his searches seemed to me to be focused on the far side of the river that formed our natural borders. He might have sensed the same thing that I had.

It was as we were sitting down to lunch that something finally happened. A dragon that seemed to be made out of water rose from the direction of the river, rearing over the trees and bearing down on us. We leapt for the trees as a ripple of lightning streamed in the direction of the water –some sort of collaboration jutsu.

"What was that?" Kai asked.

"That was an enemy attack –wasn't it obvious enough?" Osamu asked.

A whip-like construction of water whipped out of nowhere from the line of trees opposite us –as we jumped, it swung and curled at the spot where I had been moments before.

"Hazuki, use your Sharingan. Tell us how many there are," Hayama-sensei commented as we settled into the upper branches of another tree. Right –I was able to differentiate between people because my Sharingan perceived chakra as colour. I closed my eyes and concentrated for a moment –when I next opened my eyes, they were crimson with two tomoe.

I scanned the forest around and below, counting the different chakras that I could see. Then I had it –there were eight around and in front of us. But there were none behind us, meaning that our way back to the village was clear.

I relayed this information to Hayama-sensei.

"Alright, you three remain hidden," he told us. "I'll go and see if I can dissuade them from chasing us. If I can't, I'll give you the withdrawal signal –head straight to the village and don't stop for anything."

He didn't even wait for us to respond before he jumped out of his perch and landed in the middle of the clearing. Arguing about strategy wouldn't do us any good –Hayama-sensei was the only one who was able to stand against our pursuers and attempt to buy us time to get away.

"I want to talk to you," he called out. Seven ninja surrounded him. They were probably holding back a ninja to prevent them from falling into an enemy ambush. I gritted my teeth when I saw them –they were all wearing long grey tops that were gathered at the waist to present a sash-like appearance, with matching darker bottoms. Over their top, they were wearing white one-strapped flak jacket and arm and shin-guards. They were wearing headbands that bore a familiar –at least to me –symbol.

Now I knew why we had been followed and ambushed.

"Who are these guys?" Kai asked in an undertone. I guess that this was the first time he had seen enemy ninja.

"They're from the Hidden Cloud," I responded.

"Hidden Cloud, from the Land of Lightning? But this is the Land of Fire. What are they doing invading our territory?" Kai asked. Osamu clamped a hand over his mouth, motioning down towards the ground where Hayama-sensei was being approached by two ninja who must be leading the squad.

"I'm sure you're aware that invading the Land of Fire and attacking our ninja is a sure way to bring conflict between the two lands," Hayama-sensei commented. "It is in direct conflict with our treaty. Explain your actions."

"We have been tracking a runaway from our village," one of the leading ninja commented. He tossed Hayama-sensei a photograph, which our sensei briefly glanced at. "We weren't expecting to find that she had gone rogue. Return her to us."

"They're after a Rogue ninja?" Kai asked. "What's he talking about? There's no-one like that amongst us."

I couldn't respond to him –I couldn't tell him about my past.

"Look out!" Osamu suddenly shouted. I turned to see a Cloud ninja land on the branch behind us, sending shuriken at us –more accurately, at me. Of course –he was the eighth ninja, ordered to locate me while the rest kept the Jonin commander responsible for the team occupied.

We jumped backwards, leaping out of the trees as we escaped the barrage of metal weapons. Unfortunately, we landed in the open of the clearing, a short distance from our sensei and the enemy ninja. They immediately closed on us, all drawing katana, apart from the Jonin commanders who remained near Hayama-sensei, their own weapons drawn. It was a well-formed and well-rehearsed formation.

"I'll say it once more –return the girl to our custody," the Jonin in command stated to Hayama-sensei. "Although I would relish fighting a Leaf shinobi, I wish to settle this without combat. That girl never belonged in your village –she and her power belong to us."

My fists clenched. Hayama-sensei looked in our direction –and gave us the signal to withdraw. We needed to get back to the village. We scattered –as we left the clearing behind, we heard the sound of our sensei engaging the other Jonin. But looking back as we ran, we saw that there were six on our tail. They were easily keeping up with us and gaining –they had to be Chunin.

"Now what? What about Hayama-sensei?" Kai asked.

"Hayama-sensei is a Jonin –he'll be able to beat those Cloud ninja," I responded. We had the advantage –even now, I was leading my friends and comrades to the traps that we had set up. We had the fact that this was our land and we knew it like the backs of our hands on our side. We had to have faith in the abilities of our sensei.

"Was what they were saying back there really true?" Osamu asked as we ran. "Are you a Cloud kunoichi?"

"I lived in the Cloud, learnt jutsu from them, but I was never one of them," I replied. And it had to be true –I was still clinging desperately to what Yugito had told me when she had released me. "I was a prisoner to them, a tool." I pulled down the neck of my outfit to show the bruise that was sealed away. "This is a Curse Mark jutsu that they branded me with in order to control me. It's been tingling the last couple of days, and now I know why –they were close by and trying to activate it. But the Seal stopped it from working."

"Well, if you think that we're going to let them take you, you're wrong," Kai commented. "You're a comrade and a friend. It's because of your tactics that we were able to become a squad in the first place."

I was grateful for their continued support and friendship. Now I had to find a way to save my friends, no matter what.

An ambush would be our best bet –we had the advantage of playing in our own back-yard, meaning that we knew the best places to strike as well as the best ways to completely disappear. Numbers or ability didn't mean much if you could catch the enemy off-guard.

Of course, to lure the Chunin into an ambush, the bait had to be tempting enough for them to want to take the chance. And right now, as they pursued us, I knew that only one target would be attractive enough. I was going to have to be the bait.

"Alright, I have an idea," I told them. "We're going to splinter off –you take the left and right and slow your pace. When I give the signal, catch them in a genjutsu, Osamu. Kai, you follow up with a long-range Water-style jutsu."

"What's the signal?" Kai asked.

"When I draw my katana," I responded. We cleared the first line of defence and moments later heard the explosions as the Chunin fell into the trap jutsu that we had set. I risked a glance back –there was a thick cloud of smoke behind us. It was the perfect smoke-screen. I signalled to the others –we splintered off.

I slowed my pace, double-checking with my Sharingan to see six chakra colours coming after me, just as I had anticipated. I didn't want to get too far from the pursuing ninja, or leave the others behind. They were coming on fast.

I stopped on the next branch, turning to face my pursuers as they surrounded me in a circle. I made a quick count –I could see six chakras and no others that were elsewhere. None of them were clones. We had them.

"Surrender," one of the Cloud Chunin commanded –all of them had their katana drawn and some of them were crackling with lightning. They were ready to use brute strength if they had to.

I saw Kai and Osamu sliding into position on either flank –luckily, it looked as though none of the Chunin were the sensory type, otherwise this tactic would have never worked. I fixed my Sharingan eyes on the Chunin, establishing eye contact with them all. I cast a generic jutsu in order to paralyse them all. It seemed to work, every single one of them was rendered incapable of moving or even following my movements as I drew my katana.

I may be capable of genjutsu and controlling the flow of chakra through the enemy's chakra network, but I wasn't overly experienced at it. It took a lot of my chakra. I would only hold these ninja still until Osamu's genjutsu took over.

Then I noticed Osamu's chakra intertwining with my own as he cast his jutsu.

A tidal wave seemed to form from the other side of the trees where Kai had positioned himself. It swept over and into the Chunin, slamming them into the trucks of the surrounding trees. Things broke –not the trunks, though.

"I can't believe we pulled that off," Kai commented as we looked around at the battered and motionless frames. I deactivated my Sharingan to preserve my chakra. It was a relief that we had been able to pull that off –and it wouldn't have worked without teamwork and perfect co-operation or timing.

"Let's go and find Hayama-sensei," I commented, and we headed back the way we had just fled. As we moved, a figure appeared in front of us. But it wasn't Hayama-sensei. It was one of the Cloud jonin. Before we could do anything, before I had even the slightest change to come up with a strategy, Kai and Osamu had been knocked out due to the speed and power of the jonin's attack on the three of us. I felt a hand collide with the back of my neck, and the world went hazy as I fell into darkness.


	13. The Demon Within

Welcome back!

I do not own Naruto, etc. Please read, enjoy, review...

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><p>I stirred slightly, still dazed and not quite awake. I could hear voices, loud voices. I tried to tune out the ruckus –for some reason it also sounded slightly muted, as though I was hearing it from beyond something. I couldn't really make out what was being said –but the echoing noise was making my head spin.<p>

Still, I was aware enough to notice that I wasn't tied up or anything –it felt more as though I was laying on a stony surface face-down. When I dared to open my eyes even a little, I noticed I was surrounded by something black. Beyond that, I could make out the slightly-indistinct shape of two people beyond the barrier.

Memory returned to me. I had defeated the Cloud Chunin that had outnumbered us two to one with Kai and Osamu; as we had made our way back, we had been ambushed by a Jonin. Dread and fear rippled through me. What had happened to the others? And what about Hayama-sensei? I fought not to move or do anything to portray the fact that I was awake.

I hated the Cloud ninja. Every time my life resembled something nearing peace and calm, every time I surrounded myself with people I loved, they saw fit to come along and rip away each solid foundation that I had been carefully constructing for myself. Now I was trapped in a barrier.

I got to my hands and knees, tired of playing possum. I now noticed that I didn't have my equipment with me –of course they would have disarmed me and removed my stuff. I still had my chakra and my fists. I increased the power of my fist by channeling chakra into it.

It had absolutely no effect –unless you include the fact that a fierce pain that resembled being electrocuted throughout my entire body rippled through my frame and I was flung back harshly, skidding to a painful halt in the centre of the barrier. Someone was infusing the wall with chakra, so powerful that it had burnt the skin on the backs of my knuckles. And to make it worse, I couldn't feel my chakra replenishing itself.

"You should learn to stop being disobedient," a voice said, and I scowled in that direction. I could see a faint silhouette of the man. "I see you need some more discipline."

The barrier hummed –and then I felt my chakra being sucked right out of me. I gasped as my vision began to blur as I was rapidly and drastically weakened. Lightning crackled around me, paralyzing me as I could do nothing but feel the chakra being drained out of me. My vision blurred and I fell forward and into unconsciousness again.

_Wake up._

Who was that? That voice –it wasn't anyone I knew. And it chilled me down to the bone.

Wait –I had heard that voice before. It had been a throb in the back of my mind, sometimes little more than a whisper on a faint breeze, at other times (like right now) roaring through me. It was a voice that demanded control and power, a voice that I had surrendered to before once, and had been fighting against ever since.

_Wake up!_ Great, the voice was getting even more demanding.

I opened my eyes. I was suspended in a strange and completely darkness. I could see nothing around me.

_Let me loose..._ the voice demanded. It was soft, a tempting whisper that echoed in my mind. It was a voice, a temptation that I had given into before. _Let me go and I relieve you of the pain of the chaos of this world..._

_Who are you? _I asked it.

_I am you, and you are me_, it responded. Oh wonderful, now it was talking in riddles.

But how could it be me if I was me and I was right where I was now? That didn't make any sense to me.

_You don't believe me. Very well, then I shall show myself to you._

A form seemed to be materializing out of the darkness, out of the nothingness. It was powerful, ancient... dangerous. It was a monstrous being. It was humanoid in shape and size, with obsidian scales rather than skin and large bat-like wings. It had six arms, each with long claws on its fingertips. Its face was fierce, with protruding canine-like fangs that stabbed down from its upper jaw. Its eyes were rimmed in crimson, and its eyes were dark and fierce. It had three eyes, one on its forehead, meaning that they formed a triangle. I trembled as I made eye contact with it.

As I faced it, I knew what it was. It was a demon. And it was the demon that was sealed away –the same being that had made me such a tempting target for the Cloud to control.

_Didn't you hear me? I told you to let me out! You never had a problem with doing so before._

I resisted the call. The last time I had surrendered, I had ended up damaging a quarter of the Cloud village. I hadn't been in command at all –I hadn't even been conscious of what I had been doing. That was the reason I had been isolated, trapped in a cage and despised.

I couldn't let it out –I didn't want to hurt those that I considered my friends. This demon had caused fear within someone as powerful and dangerous as Toru. I closed my eyes, focusing on the people I wanted to protect –my friends, my comrades, my sensei, the remaining members of the family that had taken me in, had taught me to love again after my trust had been misplaced and abused. I couldn't let this thing out.

_Why resist? You know that you cannot cope without me. How many times have I saved you already? You are weak –surrender your body and you will never experience the pain of the world again._

If I surrendered, who knows what damage I would cause? I couldn't give in –I'd become nothing more than the instrument that the Cloud had seen in me when they had looked at me. I might be weak, but I was training to become stronger. Losing the sensation of pain sounded tempting, but if I gave in, I would lose every other sensation in the world. I would lose the feelings of love and friendship, the feelings that came from fighting at people's sides, the pride that I felt as my jutsu grew stronger and stronger.

I would continue to be my own being, no matter how this demon tried to take over me. Even if it cost me my life, I was going to fight for them and protect them with my own strength.

_I don't understand these feelings that you are thinking of,_ the demon said. _But... your resolve is undeniable. Very well –I will follow your lead. _

The demon turned into a dark mist, swirling around me. But for some reason, it didn't feel as though I was being consumed, and it didn't feel heavy or threatening anymore. Now what was happening?

_I mentioned this already, didn't I?_ The demon's voice echoed around me. _You and I share the same soul, the same body. Death for one of us means death for the other. I recognize your willpower and I will loan you my powers_. Then the six arms appeared, seemingly wrapping around me, holding me in what seemed to be an embrace-like hold, and the wings curling around in what seemed to be a protective sweep.

_I will watch over you, be your shield_, the demon commented. A moment ago, the demon had been trying to tempt me into surrendering to it. I wasn't about to let my guard down just yet. The inner world where the demon lurked faded.

The demon looked at the young girl who had resisted its pull. It had thought that now, when she was alone, trapped, vulnerable and low on chakra, would be the easiest time to take her over and control the body that it was bound to.

But she had an unusual strength of will, despite everything that she had been through. It seemed as though the child's father had made a good selection when he had chosen to seal it within the girl who had then been newly born.

Now it was its duty to protect its host.


	14. I Spy with my Demon Eye

I don't own Naruto, etc.

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><p>I stirred slowly; I was scared of the possibility of a repeat of what had happened when I had been trapped in that barrier. It looked as though we hadn't moved away from the river –the only difference was the fact that this time, food had been laid inside the barrier. And it was night. I sat quietly.<p>

"Looks like you've learnt your lesson," the Jonin commented from the other side. I didn't look up –my head was aching and I didn't think I could take another blast of whatever it was that they had hit me with.

As I ate, there was an explosion from the far side of the barrier. Someone was attacking. Then the barrier crumpled as whoever had been casting it was knocked unconscious. I was suddenly free, and I didn't waste a move as I dodged the whipping of a Water Style whip that the Jonin who had been taunting me had released.

"Hazuki!" I heard Kai's voice, and I was relieved that they were alright. There was a flash of motion and then Hayama-sensei was in front of me, forcing the Jonin to pull back. I was so relieved. I had feared the worst when I had seen that there were two enemy ninja holding me –I was glad that that fear had proven to be wrong.

The Jonin retreated across the river, gritting his teeth at being outnumbered and completely outclassed by the opposing Jonin.

"The Cloud won't forget this," he warned before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I'm glad you're alright," Hayama-sensei commented, sheathing his blade and placing a hand on my shoulders. He noticed the blood on my knuckles. "Let's have a look at those."

I learnt that he had managed to injure the Jonin who had been holding up the barrier in their first battle, but in the process had lost track of the second one –the one who had struck at us. When the first had retreated, he had headed in our direction and found Kai and Osamu unconscious. From that, he had deduced that I had been taken and when the two had awoken, they had confirmed it. Since then, they had followed the traces of their presence, located us and planned how to set me free.

My burnt hands were treated and then bandaged in clean white cloth. As Hayama-sensei did so, I saw his eyes widen in surprise before it returned to its usual calm when we made eye contact.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

In response, he angled his katana so that it reflected my eyes... especially my left one.

"What the hell?" I commented in shock. I drew my own katana to study it more closely. My right eye was... well, the normal colour and shape. But my left one had changed completely –it was dark as the night, with no pupil. There were blackened veins around the lids as though ink had been put into the blood veins. It looked evil, demonic. _That demon..._

Then the black seemed to fade and my eye had returned to normal as though nothing had happened.

"It's from the inner demon in you, isn't it?" Hayama-sensei asked as I replaced my katana. I looked at him in surprise –how did he know about that? "Lord Hokage mentioned it to me when he appointed me to be your sensei. We're going to have to work out how that power works now –you have the makings of a splendid ninja in you."

He wasn't looking at me as though I was a monster –it was as though I had simply learnt a new jutsu. It was a relief, to be perfectly honest.

We kept travelling, completing our mission in relative peace as we finished laying the traps and reached the port. Along the way, I experimented with the eye that I had obviously gotten from the demon nestling in my soul. It turned out that it needed chakra in order to open, and when I got it open, it turned out to activate some sort of paralysis jutsu that even Osamu, a trained genjutsu specialist, or Hayama-sensei who was a seasoned veteran soldier of the Leaf wasn't able to break out of.

There was a side effect, though –it used up a heck of a burst of chakra –so much that it left me feeling dizzy. It wasn't a secret that I would want to reveal too many times. It was like having a hungry little monster that adored munching on my chakra stuck to my head.

I discovered that there was a more discreet power that had come from the demon's agreement to stop working against me. It had first happened when we had passing through a ravine –I had sensed that there was trouble up ahead. A wave of emotions had swirled around in my head –dark thoughts and intents. I had smelt something strong and iron-like –blood. When we got to the ravine's exit, we had found the remains of a caravan, bandits and bodies. It was a bizarre sensation –it was as though I had picked up on the intention of the bandits from a mile away, as well as the chaos of the situation and pain of the victims that had perished in the conflict. It wasn't a pleasant feeling –but in terms of allowing us to avoid danger, it might actually prove useful.

Once we had been relieved, we headed back to the village.

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><p>And that's the final chapter of this arc done. I hope you enjoyed it!<p> 


	15. Coming of July

Sorry about the extra long break; I have been really busy.

Anyway, I noticed that a lot of you are interested in this story, so I thought I'd give you a few more chapters to read. Think of it as a late Xmas present. Have a good Boxing Day

BTW, I do not own Naruto etc, just my OC

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><p>It had been two years since I had graduated –a whole year since I had awoken the demon that had been slumbering within me all this time. It was the end of June –soon I would turn thirteen. Over the two years that we had worked together, gotten stronger together and made mistakes together, we had formed a solid team. It was probably because we all had a different role, a different strength within the group that we used to the team's advantage.<p>

I specialised in mid and close-range combat with the combination of kenjutsu and my developing Kekkai Genkai –it required massive amounts of chakra and control in order to activate and use it. I had practiced and practiced with it until I had nearly run out of chakra in training on several occasions. But now, I could activate it on a whim and hardly any effort. My favourite strategy was to ensnare our opponent and drain their chakra before one of the others finished the job with a single blow. My other unique ability –or rather, the ability that I had gained from the demon inside me actually co-operating with me rather than trying to take over my body –to sense danger had saved us from many ambushes and traps and manipulations. I was also the strategist of the group.

Kai had really come along, specialising in his family's trademark Water-style jutsu techniques. It was the most versatile of all the jutsu styles, adaptable in any situation. He was fond of large and flashy techniques, though –and the length of time that it took him to complete a jutsu left about a hundred openings in his defences that an opponent could use.

Osamu was the most skilled genjutsu user, despite my Sharingan visual prowess, and he had taken a course to learn about medical ninjutsu. It turned out he had a natural talent for it –and we all knew that he had excellent chakra control that perhaps surpassed mine. Now we could be healed on the battlefield. It protected us from defeat.

We met with Hayama-sensei the day after the conclusion of an escort run for a band of travelling merchants –a relatively quiet run only interrupted by bandits who thought that merchants made easy targets. And they had gotten their butts kicked.

"I know this is sudden notice, but the Chunin exams are coming up. Naturally, I recommended you for participation." He handed out the registration forms which I looked at. It was short notice –the exams were less than a week away. "Just sign this application form, fill it in and come to Room 301 at the Academy at 3 pm on July 3." He disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving us to our own devices.

"Alright! We're going to become Chunin!" Kai sang out.

"You're celebrating a little early, Kai," Osamu reasoned. "The rumours are that the exams are supposed to be really dangerous."

We all knew what passing these exams meant –we would advance from Genin to Chunin –we would no longer be rookies. We would be qualified to led our own teams, be sent out on missions of a true ninja.

"You just watch –I'm going to be a Chunin by the time the exam's over!" Kai bragged. I laughed at my friend's enthusiasm. I couldn't exactly blame him. I was just as excited at the proposal of going through the exams to advance to the second rank.

I knew that the exams were bound to be hard –but anything that was worth getting was also a lot of hard work. To me, it wasn't just an exam to prove myself to the village –becoming a Chunin meant that I would be acknowledged as prepared to take on the responsibilities of being the future head of the Takeda clan. And, more personally, it would show me how far I had come, how powerful I was. I had to know how much more I could grow –I was still chasing the dream of hunting down and eliminating Tsurugi.

I headed off to a training ground that I used, leaving the others behind. I was experimenting on the accuracy of my Kekkai Genkai. I had targets set up, crosses scratched into the trees in places that were difficult to see –just as if an enemy had concealed themselves in my surroundings.

"Tori-Tatsu-Mi," I muttered under my breath as my hands went through the corresponding hand signs. The grass at my feet twisted and thickened to form a tendril. I fed it chakra and it grew into large whip-like forms that danced around me as though they had a life of their own.

Good –that was the first step. Now I focused my chakra, directing chakra into the tendrils. The chakra flowed through the tendril, circulating within without me having to do anymore. Thorns grew along the tendrils at points where I focused the chakra more intently.

OK, so far so good. This was the difficult part coming up. This was a barrage attack that I was trying to improve the accuracy of. I fixed my sights on the target that I wanted –about halfway up a tree truck on the far side of the path. I took a breath. "Plant Style: Thorn Darts," I said, more to myself than anything as I released the barrage.

Too late, I realised that there were people heading down the road.

"Look out!" I shouted a warning as the thorns flew. It was way too late to stop the attack –I had lost all control over the barrage strike that I had unleashed. I released the jutsu, and raced in that direction, intent on ensuring the damage wasn't too great. I landed on a tree branch overlooking the road. My thorns had found their mark –apart from one which seemed to have embedded itself in the ground by the foot of a boy dressed in a black outfit, with a head-protector that bore the emblem of the Hidden Sand. He was carrying what seemed to be a bandaged mummy on his back.

"Hey, is this your handiwork?" he asked, glaring up at me. I saw that his face was covered in make-up.

"I'm sorry about that," I replied. "It wasn't deliberate –a training accident."

"Let it go, Kankuro," his companion said –a girl with blonde hair and was carrying a large folded fan on her back. "It's not that big a deal. And we don't have time to go around picking fights."

"This brat attacked us!" the boy, Kankuro, responded angrily. "There's no way in hell that I am going to just let this go! Don't worry –I'm just going to teach her a lesson."

I sighed –I really didn't have time for a fight. And this guy was dangerous –I didn't need to have my strange sixth-sense for danger to know that rage and hate were boiling off him. I really didn't want to run the risk of being unable to compete in the Chunin exams due to being injured before the first exam even got started. But I wasn't going to be able to talk me way out of this.

Kankuro pulled the mummy from his back.

"Hang on –are you really going to use the Crow for this?" the girl with him asked. I wasn't sure what he was carrying with him, and I was sure that I didn't really want to find out. I rested my hand on my katana, ready to draw it.

"That's enough, Kankuro," said a voice from behind me. I almost fell off my perch in surprise. I turned to see a red-haired boy with dark rings around his eyes and a gourd strapped to his back standing on the branch over my head. I sensed a strange aura around him –something sinister enough to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. And the fact that Kankuro was immediately cowed by his mere presence only made me feel even more uneasy –that and the fact that he moved at a speed that even Hayama-sensei couldn't have moved at.

His gaze shifted to me. "I'm sorry if he caused you any problems."

"It was more my fault than anything," I responded. He then disappeared, joining the other two. They passed under the tree I was sitting in, heading deeper into the village. I guessed that they were here for the year's Chunin Exams –it was one of the only reasons a foreign ninja such as these three would be allowed to enter the village.

Still, I was curious about the red-haired boy. I jumped down from my perch.

"Hey, wait a moment!" I called after them. They turned back towards me. "This is my village –identify yourselves."

"I am Temari, and this is Kankuro," the girl responded, gesturing to herself and the older boy. "We hail from the Hidden Sand in the Land of Wind."

"And what about him?" I asked, pointing towards the red-haired boy. He turned back towards me.

"I am Gaara of the Desert," he responded. "I am curious about you, too. Who are you?"

"I am Hazuki of the Takeda clan," I replied. "I guess I'll be seeing you at the Chunin exams." I headed back towards the clearing –I wasn't going to work on that technique anymore. There were lots of kenjutsu techniques that I could use.

"That brat's actually a Genin of this village?" Kankuro muttered. "She can't even control her own powers."

"Don't underestimate her, Kankuro," Temari commented. "She said that she was a member of the Takeda clan –they're reputed to be skilled at kenjutsu. We'll see just how good she really is soon enough."


	16. The First Exam

I do not own Naruto, etc -only Hazuki

* * *

><p>On the first day of July, we made our way to the Academy and headed to the third floor. According to the rumours, we had three teams of rookies fresh out of the Academy –ninja who had only graduated a year ago –entering the Chunin exams.<p>

We entered a large room that was packed with exam participants. I couldn't believe how many were here as my eyes swept over the familiar and not-familiar faces. The vast majority of entrants seemed to come from the Hidden Leaf, with ninja from the Hidden Grass, Mist, Waterfall and Sand villages. I picked up a strange scent that was familiar –so Gaara and his teammates were already here. There was also one team wearing a headband with a musical note symbol on their foreheads –it was the only one that I couldn't identify.

"Wow –looks like we've got a lot of competition," Kai commented as we moved to stand next to the windows on one side of the room. We watched as the doors opened again and Neji's team walked in with Rock Lee and Tenten. Yeah, there was definitely some stiff competition –and I really wanted to fight Neji.

The doors opened a few more times –and then all three teams of rookies were standing around at the front of the room and making quite a spectacle of themselves. I ran my eyes over the familiar faces –Shikamaru, Choji, Ino –who had latched onto Sasuke the moment the doors had closed behind him –Sakura, Naruto, Hinata –who was looking nervously at Naruto –Kiba who had Akamaru on top of his head, and the mysterious Shino.

They were warned about making a spectacle of themselves by an older boy wearing glasses called Kabuto Yakushi, before being provided data on Rock Lee and Gaara –my ears pricked up at that information. Apparently, he had done six C-Rank missions and even a B-Rank mission as a Genin, walking away from it without a scratch. He must have some special ability, then. There wasn't much more data on him, not even stats. Still, I learnt something important about him –he was used to fighting ninja with ten times our experience and skill levels.

I had figured that there was going to be an outburst from Naruto at some point –and I was proven right when he shouted at the whole room that he was going to beat us all.

"What an idiot," Kai commented. I concealed my grin behind my hand.

Kabuto then commented on the genin that I hadn't been able to recognise –apparently they were Hidden Sound ninja, from a new village that had recently emerged. The Sound genin seemed to take offense at that, attacking him. One of them swung at him, but Kabuto managed to dodge him. Or at least, he seemed to –then he doubled over and coughed up blood.

"What the hell was that?" Kai commented.

"That's no ordinary taijutsu –there's some kind of trick to it," I responded. I hadn't been using my Sharingan –I was trying to preserve my chakra and keep it as a final surprise for the exams. But even without it, I was able to tell that there was more going on than just a simple swing. Those Sound ninja –they sure had an unusual talent. They were a group to be careful of.

Anything that might have happened after that was curtailed by the arrival of the exam proctors at the front of the room. He ordered the Sound ninja to knock it off or face expulsion from the exam. "I am Ibiki Morino, your proctor. Now listen up –there will be no combat between participants without the express permission of your proctors, and even then the use of fatal force is expressly forbidden! Now, make your way to the front of the room. You will each pick a number and proceed to the corresponding seat once you have handed in your paperwork. The written part of this exam will begin as soon as you're all seated.

"Not a written test! No way!" Naruto made another scene –I wouldn't expect anything else from him. Written exams were definitely not his forte. I wasn't sure what his forte was, he had failed the clone jutsu exam when I had graduated. This exam would show whether he had improved or not.

We were finally all seated –I was sitting in the back row. I could see both Kai and Osamu in the rows in front of me.

"Now before we begin, there are some rules that you need to be aware of! And you'd better pay attention the first time around!" Ibiki barked from the front of the room, tapping on the blackboard. "Rule number one: contrary to what some of you may be used to, you all begin with a perfect score of ten points. One point will be deducted for every answer you get wrong –so if you miss three, your final score will be seven!"

_Well, so far that made sense, although it was far from usual._

"Rule number two: teams will pass or fail based on the total scores of all three members.

"Rule number three: no cheating is allowed! The Chunin you see positioned around the room are there to watch you carefully for any signs of cheating. And for each incident they spot, they will subtract two points from the culprit's score. If they catch you five times, you'll be dismissed before the tests are even scored! Anyone fool enough to caught cheating by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here. If you want to be considered shinobi, show us what exceptional shinobi you can be."

_Geez, they were making a heck of a fuss about cheating. And I had the sense that was a hidden meaning somewhere._

"Rule number four: if any candidate should get a zero and fail the test –then the entire team fails!"

_What?_

"The final question will be given out fifteen minutes before the end of the written test. You'll have one hour total." The clock clicked onto the hour. "Begin!"

Looking over the questions, I noticed that they were a set of problems that centred on probability, each one harder than the one before. These questions... they weren't Genin-level. I had to be one of the few in the room that even had a chance of understanding it.

_Oh no... Kai wouldn't have a chance to even understanding these._

But there was something else bothering me even more than the complexity of the questions. They were making more of a fuss about cheating than about the written exam itself. Normally, cheating was grounds for expulsion right on the spot... but here, only two points were deducted off for every incident. With so many sentinels watching our every move, it would be nearly impossible to get away with cheating.

Ibiki's words floated back to me. **_Anyone fool enough to caught cheating by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here. If you want to be considered shinobi, show us what exceptional shinobi you can be._**

That was it! This wasn't about our knowledge –it was about our ability to strategically gather intelligence! They were daring us to try and cheat and get away with it.

_Kai, you can work this out! Osamu was the only one of us who didn't have espionage skills –he needed a hand. _And Kai's Hiden Dragon Water Mirror jutsu was the best bet for it to go undetected.

I put pen to paper, working through the questions. Occasionally, I glanced up at the room as a whole, double-checking the progress of my teammates. It looked as though quite a few had figured out what the exam was really about by now. And I was relieved to see that Kai had not only found someone who was writing the answers down but had also rigged the Dragon Water Mirror jutsu to reflect the answers to Osamu.

Ten minutes into the exam, a Hidden Leaf genin had a kunai thrown at his paper, piercing it. He and his teammates were the first to be dismissed.

"Number fifty-six, failed!" shouted one of the Chunin.

"Number one hundred and number nine, failed!"

"Number twenty-six, failed!"

"Numbers thirty-five and sixty-eight, failed!"

"Number forty-four, failed!"

"Number twelve and three –failed!"

This went on for about forty minutes, until about thirty-five teams of ninja were left. Then Ibiki called out for our attention five minutes later.

"Alright, listen up! Here's the tenth and final question!" I lowered my pencil as I turned to the front. This was the final hurdle!

"But, before I give you this question, there are some new rules that you need to be aware of." He was briefly interrupted by the reappearance of one of the Sand ninja who had disappeared to the toilet earlier in the exam –the same one who had tried to pick a fight with me. Once Kankuro was seated, he continued. "These rules are unique to question ten. So listen carefully and try not to let them frighten you."

If the rules were scary, who knows what the question was going to be like? I took a deep breath, fighting to prevent my nervously-shaking hand.

"Rule number one: each of you is free to choose not to be given the final question. It's your choice."

_What? We could choose to skip the final question? That sounded a little too easy._ And apparently I wasn't the only one who thought it was a little too good to be true.

"So what's the catch?" Temari called out, obviously thinking the same thing I was. "Let's say we decide not to take it –what happens then?"

"If you choose not to take the tenth question, regardless of your answers to the other nine –you'll get a zero. That means you fail –and both your teammates fail as well."

Why would anyone choose to fail? That didn't sound like a very sensible option. Apparently several others thought so as well and voiced that opinion.

"You didn't let me finish," Ibiki commented. "If you do accept the question but answer it incorrectly... you will not only fail –you will be barred from taking the Chunin exam ever again!"

That was some choice: fail with both teammates but still be able to take the exam, or take a gamble with the worst-case scenario of never being able to move up to the next rank!

Several hands went into the air as people caved. The teams were excused, any of those who put their hands up apologizing to their teammates. I could see that Kai and Osamu were wavering. Who knows what the question was? Even I might not be able to answer it correctly.

Then someone's hand rose into the air –someone who I had thought didn't know when to call something quits. It was Naruto.

Then he slammed his hand into the desk. "Don't underestimate me! I don't quit and I don't run! You can act tough all you want –you guys aren't going to scare me off! No way! I don't care if I get stuck as a Genin for the rest of my life –I'm still going to be Hokage some day!"

He sat down –and I could feel my own confidence stirring. He had always talked big and tough –but now, I felt as though I had gotten some of his spirit. He had some serious guts.

"This decision is one that could affect the rest of your life," Ibiki commented. "If for any reason you would rather quit, now's your last chance."

"No way –I never go back on my word. That's the way of the ninja!" Naruto responded. I couldn't but smile –he had inspired me to overcome my doubts.

"Well, I admire your determination if nothing else," Ibiki commented after nodding to the Chunin around the walls. "For those of you remaining, there's only one thing left to do, and that's for me to tell you –that you've all passed the first exam!"

A stunned silence fell over the room. My pencil dropped from my hand at that bombshell. The noise echoes around the room in the moment of silence as all of us processed that.

"What a moment! What just happened? Where's the tenth question?" Sakura asked.

"There never was one –not a written one at least," Ibiki responded, actually smiling broadly. "Actually, your decision to stay was the answer to the tenth question."

"Wait a second –so the other nine questions that you gave us were just a waste of time –is that what you are saying?" Temari called out.

"No, not at all. The first nine questions had an important overriding purpose," Ibiki responded. "They were to test your abilities to surreptitiously gather strategic intelligence under the most adverse circumstances."

"Oh, well that clears up everything," Temari commented, a sarcastic tone in her voice.

"Let me explain," Ibiki began, addressing the whole room. "My objective was to test you not only as individuals but as a team, and how well you function as a part of that team. That's why the test was marked on a team basis, so that you knew that everything you did –or failed to do –would directly affect your team-mates. I wanted to see how you'd handle the pressure."

"Yeah, I figured it was something like that. That's why I kept my cool," Naruto commented. I shook my head –I had seen him having a nervous breakdown.

"The first nine questions on the test were difficult –in fact, as you may have realised, too difficult for any Genin to be expected to solve. I imagine that most of you quickly came to that realisation –that you'd have to cheat to have any hope of passing. In fact, the test was designed to encourage cheating –it almost demanded it. Of course, it would have done you little good unless you had someone to cheat from. So I disguised two Chunin who already knew the answers and had them sit in with you."

The Chunin indicated their positions in the room.

"Oh, come on –I wasn't fooled for a second!" Naruto bragged. "You'd have to be a complete dufos not to see it!"

_In other words, he had been completely clueless the whole exam._

"Those who were caught at it failed. Better not to cheat than to cheat clumsily," Ibiki said, reaching up to untie his headband. He removed it to reveal his cranium –it was covered in burns and puncture marks, deep scars. I couldn't even imagine what he must have endured. "Information –it can be your most reliable tool in battle. How well you gather it can determine whether a mission's a failure or success. There'll be times that you have to risk your life to get it.

"Of course, you must also consider the source of your information," Ibiki commented, re-securing his bandana. "Intelligence gathered from an enemy is not necessarily accurate. Always bear this in mind: disinformation can be worse than no information at all. It can lead to the death of comrades or the loss of a village. That's why I put you in the position where you had to gather accurate intelligence –cheat in order to survive. And that's why those who weren't good enough at it were weeded out, leaving the rest of you."

"OK –but I'm still not getting what the whole tenth-question-thing was all about," Temari spoke up.

"You're not? The tenth question was the whole point of the whole exam. Surely you see that?"

"Sure, but explain it anyway," Sakura spoke up.

"As I said, the goal was to test you not only as individuals but as part of a team. The final question gave you two choices, both difficult. You could choose to play it safe and skip the final question, although it meant that both your teammates failed as well. Or you could try to answer it, knowing that if you got it wrong, you would lose your chance of ever becoming Chunin. It was a no-win situation, but just the sort that Chunin have to face every single day.

"Let me give you a hypothetical mission: to steal a secret document from an enemy stronghold. You have no idea how many ninja the enemy has, or how heavily armed they are. Furthermore, you have reason to suspect that the enemy is expecting you, that you might very well be walking blindly into a trap. Do you have the option of taking a pass on this insane mission, of saying my comrades and I would rather live to fight another day? Can you choose to avoid danger?

"The answer is no. There will many missions that will seem almost suicidal when you think about it. But you do not think about it –you think only of the goal, and achieving it through courage and discipline. These are the qualities required of a Chunin squad leader.

"Those who chose the safer of two paths –those whose determination falters in the face of adversity –those who would put their comrades lives in jeopardy by worrying about their own –those who would save their own necks at the price of sacred honour will never be able to call themselves Chunin –at least as long as I'm here.

"As for the rest of you, you have successfully answered the ten questions that I put to you. You have earned the right to continue on to the next step. You have passed through the first gate. I declare this part of the Chunin selection exam completed. There's nothing left but to wish you all good luck."

Suddenly the window was shattered and a banner was pinned up in front of Ibiki. The banner read '2nd Exam Proctor: Anko Mitarashi!' A woman was standing in front of it. She had light brown pupil-less eyes, black hair that had a violet tint to it and styled into a short and spiky fanned ponytail. She was wearing a tan overcoat over a fitted mesh body suit that stretched from her neck to her thighs. She was wearing a dark orange mini-skirt, a standard forehead protector around her forehead, a pendant that looked like a snake fang dangling around her neck on a thick cord. She was wearing shin guards as well.

"Heads up, boys and girls –this is no time to be celebrating!" the woman loudly pronounced. "I'll be your next proctor: Anko Mitarashi! Ready for the second test? Then let's go –follow me!"

Again, stunned silence reigned in the wake of the unexpected arrival. Then Ibiki peeked out from behind the banner.

"You're early –again," he commented.

"How many are there?" Anko asked, looking over the room. "Ibiki –you let all these guys pass? Your test was too easy –you must be getting soft."

"Or it could be a stronger crop of candidates this year," Ibiki commented.

"They don't look like much," Anko responded. "Trust me –by the time I'm done with them, more than half of them will be eliminated."

_More than half?_ There were seventy-eight of us left from this first phrase –did that mean that there were going to be less than thirty-nine by the time this second phrase was over with? That was a pretty high reduction in numbers. I was getting nervous just thinking about what the next test was going to be.

"Alright –you maggots have had it easy so far, but things are going to change starting first thing in the morning!" Anko told us. "I'll let your squad leaders know where you lot are to meet. Dismissed."

"Alright! One exam down and two to go!" Kai cheered as we left the Academy behind.

"It's way too early to celebrate," Osamu reasoned. But he was smiling –he was relieved as Kai and I were. "I get the feeling that the next exam is going to be about ten times harder than it was today."


End file.
